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Forgotten Heritage
Not for sale in Czech Republic, Hungary, Ukraine and Russia!
"No Entry"; "Dangerous Site Keep Out"; "Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted": common sights on walls or perimeter fences around many of the world's abandoned sites. These warnings allude to potential dangers and prove an ineffective deterrent against thieves and vandals. To the urban explorer/photographer these signs simply serve to whet the appetite for the promise of hidden wonders that may lie beyond.
For those who ignore the warnings and climb the fences, what awaits is usually worth the risks. Vast industrial spaces that feel more like an alien landscape or poignant residential settings, which are slowly surrendering to the inexorable advance of nature. Places once alive with sound and movement, now silent and still, but no less sensory. Immense and powerful beauty resides in these forgotten places.
For some, just getting inside a location to experience this alternative form of sightseeing is enough to satisfy a desire to simply go where one shouldn't. But for some there is a need to capture the essence of a location in words and pictures, giving others a metaphorical "leg-up" over the fences, to walk them through the remaining ruins.
Matthew Emmett falls into the latter of these groups, travelling regularly to places in the UK and across Europe. He seeks out vast power stations and their cooling towers, steel works, mines, bunkers, tunnels, schools, engine sheds, hotels, castles and a myriad of other buildings. All have their own stories to tell in a variety of voices and without the distraction, sounds and people who inhabited them, those stories are clear and strong and the character of each location is laid bare.
"No Entry"; "Dangerous Site Keep Out"; "Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted": common sights on walls or perimeter fences around many of the world's abandoned sites. These warnings allude to potential dangers and prove an ineffective deterrent against thieves and vandals. To the urban explorer/photographer these signs simply serve to whet the appetite for the promise of hidden wonders that may lie beyond.
For those who ignore the warnings and climb the fences, what awaits is usually worth the risks. Vast industrial spaces that feel more like an alien landscape or poignant residential settings, which are slowly surrendering to the inexorable advance of nature. Places once alive with sound and movement, now silent and still, but no less sensory. Immense and powerful beauty resides in these forgotten places.
For some, just getting inside a location to experience this alternative form of sightseeing is enough to satisfy a desire to simply go where one shouldn't. But for some there is a need to capture the essence of a location in words and pictures, giving others a metaphorical "leg-up" over the fences, to walk them through the remaining ruins.
Matthew Emmett falls into the latter of these groups, travelling regularly to places in the UK and across Europe. He seeks out vast power stations and their cooling towers, steel works, mines, bunkers, tunnels, schools, engine sheds, hotels, castles and a myriad of other buildings. All have their own stories to tell in a variety of voices and without the distraction, sounds and people who inhabited them, those stories are clear and strong and the character of each location is laid bare.
About the author
Matthew Emmett is a graphic designer at a toy company. He lives with his two boys and partner in the south of the UK. A desire to discover and experience new places is in his blood and he spent much of his 20s travelling extensively throughout India and South East Asia. These days he still enjoys getting out as often as he can to photograph the abandoned places lying hidden from view all around us. For the last four years he has been capturing the details and character of decaying architecture; from industrial remnants to residential settings. It has fast become an obsession. He enjoys the stories these places have to tell and the clues left behind by previous occupants. This book is the culmination of many trips around the UK and Europe. Matthew is a product ambassador for Pentax. He does commissioned work for a variety of clients, runs photography workshops and sells his images through several galleries. This is his first published book. However, he plans to continue shooting abandoned places and is looking forward to number two.