Urban Photography

I do not know why but there is something incredibly appealing about abandoned places. Is it nostalgia for what has been? Is is the history their walls can tell? Maybe. To me their beauty and appeal stems from lack of human presence. They are left to the forces of nature, transform with its seasons, and take on a life of their own.


The paint is slowly being chipped away, revealing colors of its past, and a tree has fallen down in its yard probably due to a storm. This is just a glimpse into a moment of its life, as these will not be there for long. The tree will eventually dry out, the ivy on the wall will turn green in the spring, and more trash will accumulate with the winter winds. It is home to all kinds of bugs and little creatures who hide in its nooks for various reasons. No matter what type of space, they are serene, calm, rejecting all notions of human beauty and creating a world of their own. Are these really abandoned? In our view, they are, as they no longer serve a purpose but simply take up valuable space. They are there for your discovery until someone deems it a good investment, and they will be demolished.

They are more beautiful than any man made, tourist attractions. For instance, the park surrounding CKS Memorial in Taipei is filled with greenery, exotic plants, creeks and sculptures, but at the same time, it blooms with various human activities during the day.

There are men playing chess on one of its concrete benches, workers taking a quick nap on their lunch time, elderly taking an afternoon stroll with their grandchildren, and occasional tourists like me, who after climbing 89 stairs of the Hall, visiting the museum and stores below, venture into the garden to sit down and relax with a cold drink. They are all there taking solace in shades of the trees, trying to escape the intense summer heat. The park might provide greenery and relaxation, but you can still hear the honking of the cars, the traffic beyond its walls, and the fast paced movement of the city. It lacks the quiet, comfortable and peaceful aura of those abandoned structures, where you can be lost in your thoughts forever, undisturbed by noise of daily existence. You cannot sit down on a nice bench to read a book or eat your lunch, but you can escape your daily worries, marvel at its serenity, knowing that no one will disturb you here, because there is nothing of interest to them. It's a sanctuary within the fast paced world of industrialized cities, where everyone must move to keep up with their growth but not them, they continue on with their own pace until someone disturbs them. And then they are gone.

Urban exploration and urban photography focus on exploring and documenting the beauty of these spaces. These artists/explorers often venture into dangerous environments to obtain that one unique shot. Although, I did not do that, I visited Buenos Aires this summer (their winter) and encountered some hidden gems in its neighborhoods.


This is a shot from a house for sale. It is completely run down, missing a roof, floor, and walls, with only two pairs of stairs somewhat intact and remnants of the bathroom under one of them. It used to be someone's home but now it's filled with broken brick, leaking water, and mold. Looks like a very inhospitable place, but serves as a sanctuary to a couple of homeless folks. I encountered this space and the one with the fallen tree in Palermo Viejo, a subdivision of the largest BsAs barrio, Palermo, which is undergoing gentrification. You can find lots of abandoned, unused buildings when walking around this area, but not for long, as they will be eventually replaced by highrises, upscale stores or restaurants. Seeing this house, I dreamed of owning it one day, but reality struck once I walked out, and I continued on with my stroll to Plazoleta Cortazar.


I found the second place hiding behind a metal gate between two apartment complexes. It's an abandoned lot filled with refuse, bags of cement, and a metal structure attached to the surrounding buildings. It looked like an abandoned work in progress, which might have been stopped due to winter. This was on my path to La Bocca through San Telmo. Both of these areas are a little more run down, but attract tourists because of the cobble streets in San Telmo, and colored houses in La Boca. This was an enjoyable, one day excursion but it also gave me a terrible cold at the end of it when it started to rain.

When traveling, I walk a lot so that I can explore streets and other nooks of a city, not just its monuments and other attractions deemed worthy of seeing by the tourist bureau (but I do visit those as well). I was able to find these places and others because of that. Taxis are great to get from point A to point B, but walking and taking public transportation will provide you with a better picture of the city, and its culture.