Breathtaking Examples Of Ruins Photography

Photographers worldwide hunt for opportunities to photograph long-abandoned places as the subjects of ruins photography. Far off the beaten path, these secluded, abandoned sites sometimes require a bit of a hike, some bribery, or maybe even a smidge of trespassing in order to gain access. And when you see the images they capture, you'll see why it's well worth their efforts.
30 Years Old Abandoned Russian Space Shuttles

Crumbling Under The Weight Of Time
The subjects of ruins photography illustrate so poignantly the intersection between humans, nature, time, and technology. Maybe it's a building that has fallen prey to the power of the wilderness, overgrown with vines and crumbling under the weight of time. Or perhaps it's a location that is relatively unchanged, a frozen snapshot in time, as though all the people in it just suddenly vanished in the midst of whatever daily task they were doing.
Apartment Building In Russia

....a dilapidated factory with rusted machinery frozen as if they were stopped mid-production.... a decaying shopping mall with trees bursting through cracks in the tile floors...a neglected and trashed old cinema with graffitied walls, faded seat cushions, and its final film posters still in their frames...
Equal Parts Chilling And Intriguing

There's something about an abandoned place that is equal parts chilling, sad, and intriguing. Even looking at photos of provides a visceral experience -- you can almost feel the heavy stillness and hear the mournful echoes throughout these once-vibrant structures.
Swinger's Tiki Palace

John Koenig, the creator of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, coined a new word for this feeling: kenopsia. He defines it as "the eerie, forlorn atmosphere of a place that's usually bustling with people but it now abandoned and quiet ... an emotional afterimage that makes it seem not just empty but hyper-empty, with a total population in the negative, who are so conspicuously absent they glow like neon signs."
The Feeling Is Kenopsia

When a photographer is talented enough to capture that feeling of kenopsia, the results include some of the most haunting, most somber, and creepiest images you'll ever see. Click through this gallery where we have collected some of the most amazing examples of ruins photography.
19th Century Mansion Library

1871 Asylum

Abandoned Airplane Lost In The Forest

Abandoned Aquarium In Melbourne

Abandoned Bowling Alley

Ghost Town In Russia

Lost Tracks In Lake Tahoe

Man Made Island In Japan

Nature Eats Everything

Skull Graffiti New York

Abandoned Bus

Closed New World Mall In Bangkok

Demon Statue In Old Mausoleum

Engine Rusts On The Beach Of Iwo Jima

Fighter Jet Taking Some Time Off

Abandoned French Chapel

Route 66 Dinner

German Expedition Cruise Ship

Girls Bedroom Stuck In Time

Greenhouses With Futuristic Design

Abandoned Elmo Toy

Movie History Rotting

Cabin Under A Rock

WWI Trench In France

Abandoned Hotels Before Construction Was Finished In Sinai, Egypt

Jet Graveyard

Original Batmobile

Castle Torre Scola, Italy

Subway Cars In The Ocean

Abandoned German Tank

Swiss Treehouse Abandoned

Wooden Prototype Of Space Shuttle

Drive-In Theater

Old Bucket Wheel Excavator

Abandoned House

Chernobyl Reactor No.3

Wrecked SS City Of Adelaide

Last Billboard For Spaceballs

Abandoned Roller Coaster

Flooded Mine In Washington State

Power Station

Truck Forgotten For 26 Years

Beach House In North Carolina Slowly Being Relcaimed By The Ocean

Abandoned Theater

Land Of Oz Theme Park

Spooky Abandoned House

Star Wars Movie Set In Tunisian Desert

Intersection Change Of Plans

Lawrence of Arabia Ambushed Train In The Arabian Desert

Russian Abandoned Buran Shuttles

Ocean Liner In The Canary Islands

Apartment In Yekaterinburg Russia

Creepy Statue, Alter & Stage

Detroit Falling Apart

Last Radio Shack Sign

Abandoned Train Bridge In California

Submarine In Jungle

Tree Taking Over In Norway

Presidents Heads In Virginia

Abandoned Train Yard In Hungary

P-38 Lightning Wreckage In UK
