Urban Exploration

There is more to urban exploration than taking a walk in the city.

There are 339 posts filed in Urban Exploration (this is page 25 of 57).

Canadian Urban Exploration

Little Lake HouseI’m a Canadian urban explorer, based in Ontario. I love the old places, history and thoughts of how our own future might turn out. Every explorer has their own reasons for what we do.

When i lived in Toronto, I explored downtown. My favourite places were the old buildings along Yonge, Queen and Spadina streets. Any time I caught the bus somewhere in Toronto I would find a new location to come back to with my camera. I love the old buildings with old stone work and weathered wood, glass and iron.

Urban exploration is about more than old buildings or abandoned buildings. Some urban explorers prefer drains and tunnels. Some go higher, much higher and take photographs from the rooftops of tall buildings and other tall structures like bridges. Some explorers stay on ground level (like myself). There is a lot to see right in front of you.

Do You Think About a Life After People?

I like watching Life After People and Aftermath (created by History Television in Canada). I also like books about the end of the world and how people and civilization/ society rebuild or recreate themselves. I can look at artistic creations with predictions of utopias and our possible futures for ages. I love to see how things might turn out, how we (as a society) weather the storms of our own existence. I also like to see how the buildings and other man-made creations and structures erode and weather through time. These buildings, our creations, are like our presence into the future. At some point they could be all we have left to show who we are.

This is what I feel when I look at abandoned, derelict and ruined places. There’s a sense of loss, mystery and a feeling of endurance and strength.

The Red Dot

Did you ever see a sign up with nothing but one large red dot? Would you know that was a “no trespassing” sign? It is.

I think you would have to be an explorer (or at least a road tripper of some kind) to know that. Most people would see that red dot and maybe wonder about it, maybe not really notice it. An urban explorer will be curious, or already know what the red dot means.

In the city there are not many signs spray painted with red dots. City sites have nice professional signs that let you know where you shouldn’t be.

However, you can’t explore without crossing onto private property or going through the ‘staff only’ areas. Explorers have always had to take a few risks, have some adventures, in order to make their discoveries.

Find Places to Explore

Handy Links for Canadian Travellers and Explorers

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Wild Horses Still Exist

How I Caught Maine’s Wild Forest Horses.

Here, in Canada, Sable Island is known for being a place for wild horses/ ponies. The island is protected by the government, which means no one is allowed to visit without permission. It also means, the government moderates the health of those horses – which is a really good thing for horses running wild on an island with limited space and resources.

Photo by Paul Illsley.
Photo by Paul Illsley.

HowStuffWorks “Urban Explorers’ Motivations”

This kind of observation isn’t too far removed from urban anthropology, in which people study society by examining its discarded past.

Whatever his or her motive, an urban explorer finds adventure in these abandoned sites. There’s a peacefulness in these empty, concrete caves that isn’t like the solitude found in the woods. It’s an experience opposite of nature; instead of finding reassurance in the renewal of the seasons, the urban explorer finds kinship with the past.

via HowStuffWorks “Urban Explorers’ Motivations”.

View the Painting and Write Your Own Story

From Michelle Basic Hendry, in her recent newsletter.

Q: Why are there no people or animals in your paintings?

A: When there is a figure of another person or an animal in a painting, we are left to wonder about them and try to understand their point of view. We are observers instead of participants. By avoiding any other figures, I invite the viewer to put themselves into the painting, discover what I am discovering, relate to it on a more personal level. In particular, in the paintings of abandoned buildings, I want the person looking at the painting to write their own story in it, to where it becomes their place too.