Arch View

I was culling through some of my older urban exploration ("Urbex") photos tonight. I came upon this one, which I called "Arch View." I took my HDR RAW files at the Clemons Mansion in north St. Louis on one of my several trips there in 2015. It was an amazing building in it's heyday--it was built by the uncle of writer Sam Clemons, who reportedly visited the house several times. That was a long time ago, when one did not need to worry about being in a dangerous dilapidated, mold-infested building where you might accidentally happen upon another human being who feels threatened by your presence. About a year after I took this photo, the building went up in flames. It is now totally destroyed. Which makes me feel fortunate to have at least seen what was left of the building in 2015.

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Urbex favorite church collapses – the joy and sorrow of urban exploration

I've come to enjoy urban exploration over the past year. Today I learned that a favorite urban exploration spot in St. Louis, the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in north St. Louis, has completely collapsed. That is the first photo of this group, which I took back in August 2013. IMG_4975 Bethlehem Church It's so very sad to hear that a beautiful structure has imploded, even if the economic reality pointed in that direction. It was obvious that this was going to happen, but I was hoping to photograph it again before that happened. I learned about the death of Bethlehem from a friend who lives and breathes urbex. This afternoon we explored an old factory in southeast Missouri (St. Joe's-Part of Missouri Mines Park area). That is where the remainder of these photos were taken. IMG_6179_80_81_fused St Joes lead HDR IMG_6158_59_60_fused St Joes lead HDR [More . . . ]

Continue ReadingUrbex favorite church collapses – the joy and sorrow of urban exploration