Goodbye 2022 – Photo Highlights From This Years Adventures

Well, 2022 was an absolutely amazing year for adventures. One of the best for a long time. Looking back over the collection of folders in my hard drive, my already formidable backlog has increased!

Some highlights that stand out, before I delve into the behind the scenes photo highlights;

• This year I got very lucky with accessing some amazing UK locations, some golden oldies and exciting new discoveries
• Finally got into an Art Deco Cinema I have been lusting after for years
• Started off the year with a quick spring trip to Belgium and France
• Quickly followed by a wonderful road trip around Portugal
• Explored a British Airways Training Facility, not sure where/if I will see something quite like this again!
• Enjoyed a wonderful summer road trip around Italy, including the south for the first time
• Explored wonderful Soviet-era relics and ruins of Georgia & Armenia
• A short autumn surprise trip to Belgium
• A weekend jaunt up to bonny Scotland at the end of the year, not as successful as hoped but still a great laugh!
• First Middle East exploration of abandoned places, during a “normal” holiday to Jordan

Going back to my roots – With Grandad’s lenses and film camera

I dusted off my grandad’s old film camera, which has sat forgotten in a box for over 30 years! I started off easy, attaching the old lens to my own camera and creating a Soviet-relics vintage lens series during my Georgia/Armenia road trip. Later in the year, I loaded it with black and white film to test it out. I just had my first roll of film developed, so I know for sure that the camera works (yay!). I am excited to continue my film journey next year, trying out more film brands as well as colour film.

Exhibition and publications

My work was featured in two printed publications;

• Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Escape the Ordinary: Volume 19 – Full page feature of one of my photos on page 152
• GRAFFITI ART, #67, L’urbex Au Feminin “Women Of Urbex” interview

This year I had the pleasure of exhibiting in the UK and USA;

• Vogue | 4th Edition (The Boomer Gallery, London)
• Beauty In Decay – Honourable Mention (The Chateau Gallery, Louisville, Kentucky)
• Darkness Falls (Decode Gallery, Tucson, Arizona)
• Empty Place : Abandoned Spaces (Praxis Art Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Beautiful Abandoned Places Calendar 2023 edition

It was a pleasure to design the second edition of my calendar! My Beautiful Abandoned Places Calendar 2023 was a hit once again this year, and I had to place two additional orders with my printer in the lead up to Christmas. Thanks to everyone who bought one of these, I will certainly be making a new one next year.

Casualties of 2022

We say goodbye to several locations this year, here are some notable casualties of 2022;

• Hospital & Morgue S, England – Demolition ongoing
• Ferme Drapeaux, Belgium – Van burnt
• Victorian London Movie Set, England – Major fire, location almost totally destroyed
• Mayday, Mayday / Lost Plane, Belgium – Plane removed
• Diesel Power, Belgium – Demolished

Renovations, restorations and (possible) new chapters

2022 marked a year where some of my favourite locations saw the start of renovation/restoration;

• Bella Vista / Villa Spider Web, Italy – Apparent renovation work beginning
• Dictatorship Palace, Portugal – Renovation ongoing