Compiled by Gary Shove
Words by Patrick Potter
Distributed by Ginko Press
Hardback 192 pages, 286 X 246 mm
ISBN-10: 0955912113
ISBN-13: 978-0955912115
Project Summary
Urban Exploration is the practice of going into derelict and abandoned sites. Some practitioners take photographs and this is a collection of their best images, compiled from around the world by noted photographer RomanyWG.
I loved writing this book. It was a dream job. I was able to discover the world of urban exploration and learn about it while writing a series of short essays for inclusion in the publication. I even did some urban exploration of my own to help get into character. I used a much more collaborative process of research, interviewing Urban Explorers and entering into discussion with people on the scene through internet forums. I was careful not to alienate them and at the same time found a voice that was able to express some of the more philosophical aspects of the images without being too high brow or pretentious. The book had a mixed reception, largely due to the fierce divisions within the subculture regarding the use of HDR image processing. Beyond the URBEX community the book was warmly received gaining exposure in The Sun and The Sunday Times Magazine.
Clipping
Think back to your childhood for a moment and it all begins to make sense. Do you remember the terrifying yet seductive draw of the archetypal haunted house? Every neighbourhood and every childhood has one. At the very point we cross the border from childhood into adolescence we cross real physical borders too. It’s the moment in our lives when we test the boundaries. We finally pluck up the courage to break into the haunted house and take a look around. You can probably remember your own experiences of this. And there will be at least one.
The Urban Explorer feels that we, in the comfortable and over-protected ‘first world’ are living in an enforced and extended state of childhood. They have remembered that they are capable of having unmediated experiences of reality and they welcome the fear that may (or may not) come with those experiences. The fear itself is the gateway to go through. It’s the gateway that leads for many to ‘wonderland’. This is the world through the looking glass that in some dark corner of every soul, we are all looking for.
The strange thing then is not that Urban Explorers exist; it’s that the rest of us have forgotten that we are Urban Explorers too.
Praise for Beauty in Decay
Amazon Customer Review...
This book is a masterpiece, not only in terms of the numerous incredible photographs contained, but also the compilation and the accompanying text is thoughtful and insightful. A pleasure to read and to browse. Not just a book for the coffee table, but a book you will pick up and read again and again.
Amazon Customer Review...
This book is amazing!! It's the best example of it's kind. It's written with passion and intelligence and the array of photographs are awe-inspiring!
Featured in The Sun newspaper...
Review by Useless Psychic...
I have to say that while I was enthralled by the images the text deserves praise of the highest order. It can be difficult to hold a coffee table book of images together at times, but the words are both engaging, educational (even for an urbexer!) and intelligent.
