FORGOTTEN HERITAGE

‘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.