"He who is not bold enough to be stared at from across the Abyss, is not bold enough to stare into it himself"
-Anonymous
Music by Feather Drug- "My gift" and "Piano 7"
Click an image to Enlarge it.
Portraiture
Sometimes a simple head and shoulders shot is not enough. From lighthearted, and whimsical, to the dark and brooding, and powerful, a portrait should show the you that exists down past the skin and into your heart.
The Places we Once Knew
Most people just pass these places by, not giving a second thought to the many things that these places have seen. Memories trapped deep into the rust and decay, solidified into the grooves of the concrete, and scribed on, and into, the places we once knew.
Urban Exploration Favorites
During our various explorations, I am constantly snapping pictures. Of the thousands of pictures taken some of them come out really good, others are just extremely gorgeous. These are just a few of my absolute favorites, some because of beauty others because of content.
As Time Passed Us By
Some of the most beautiful and historical buildings are not the giant monoliths seen downtown, but the old beaten down farm houses built in the 1800's or the Mansion falling to pieces after the Housing crisis. Like human wisdom, I would rather seek advice from the weathered old salt than the teen drama queen.
The Darkness that Lurks in Our Minds
Everyone has them... Those dark, crazy sounding thoughts that you keep to yourself so that everyone will think that you are just as normal as them. But here is the undeniable truth: They are keeping the same darkness from you too...
Their Heaven, Their descent
It resides in the shadows of the city of Houston, crumbling away at the distress of the economy. Times are hard for the Neighborhoods near this bustling airport. Simple People struggle to make ends meet. Flying above their restless heads lies a beautiful world of hopes and dreams, waiting for them to look up.
[baby] howard
While exploring, I came across this lil' guy lying in the grass. I couldn't resist giving this eerie one leg baby one last photo op before he lay to rest again, eternally. Godspeed Baby Howard.
Sideshow Fables
Various Images created for the Best Circus/Carnival e-fiction magazine on the net, and in print. Issue 3 now available. Pick yourself up a copy today at www.sideshowfables.com
All images (C) 2007-2011 Travis W Eckert
All rights reserved
"Exploration is really the essence of the human spirit."
- Frank Borman
Although the art and sport of Urban Exploration has been around for hundreds of years, many have chosen to stay away from such activities, some possibly, because of the negative stigma that surrounds and often precedes it.
Urban Exploration is a very multifaceted operation, which simply boils down to exploring the unknown variables of the urban environment. This may include any and everything from exploration of steam tunnels, storm drains, abandoned buildings, live buildings, restricted areas, and much more. Just like a jungle, wetland, or ancient ruin, Urban environments are teeming with extraordinary treasures of the eye that many will never see.
Some of these areas are very simple to gain access to, sometimes as simple as opening a door. Often times though, it might require some real feats of stealth and athleticism to procure a first person view of these Urban treasures.
The inlying text and photos are a guide and a journal of my own personal experiences and journies through the beauty and the interesting madness of the "urban jungle".
Take my words in your own way, and do with it what you may, but for all realistic and liability purposes, this journal is for entertainment purposes only. In other words, "Don't try this at home".
Sincerely!
Travis
a.k.a.
"TheAnti-Paradigm"
"I learned just enough in school to figure out that everything is not all there is to know."
-Tom Bodett
It began as a personal research project on the many disturbing pieces of land here in the Houston area known as "Superfunds". I was extremely intrigued by the way that the government handeled these toxic fields of various pollutants (Dig up the barrels, cover it with sand, push sand around with a dozer for a week. $1 million spent on cleanup).
Some of these lands were so incredibly polluted from buried chemicals, that children in nearby neighborhoods that might have accidentally ingested some of the soil could contract severe nervous system damage.
I found an Elementary school that had been shut down and abandoned in Houston's fifth ward, directly across the street from MDI (Many Diversified Interests) Superfund. I figured that this MASSIVE Superfund lot (1,500,000 square feet large (see map)) had to be the cause of the school's closing, but figuring isn't enough for me. I needed to find out some hard facts.
Click an image to enlarge.
All map images obtained from Google Earth.
I decided to gather a small team to do the exploring. I wasn't about to go alone. Me and the three others arrived at the location at around eight P.M. and surveyed the area. Interestingly enough, there were no "No Tresspassing" or "Private Property" signs anywhere, so we decided that we were as welcome as anyone into the area. This was also a bit unsettling.
As we approached the building our entrance was either through an open gate a hundred feet away, or under the fence right in front of us. The fence was our first choice, because it was the quickest closest way in, and going the opposite way wouldn't gain us anything extra. So under we went,I went second, quickly sliding my camera gear under, followed instantly by myself and three others crawling under as if passing through a minefield.
Our first stop on the journey was the "Cafetorium" as it was labeled. This area comprised of everything from the janitors lockers and the kitchen, all the way to the cafeteria and the school stage. Proceeding slowly and cautiously, I snapped pictures as i went, finding small clues along the way as to this place's time and condition of abandonment.
The side entrances to the "Cafetorium" were all boarded shut, with the exception of one. The door we passed through gave way to a small locker room with papers scattered asunder. The scene was lit from a single light bulb residing over one of the two remaining stovetops. Passing through the locker room and into the kitchen, we decided to take the immediate righthand door first (eenie meenie...) which led us into the cafeteria (...miney mo) and stage area.
The cafeteria was empty, with the exception of two remarkable things, the first of these being that someone got creative on the wall murial of the star spangled banner, tossing a bucket of blood-red paint all over it. It looked gruesome. I was so intrigued with the paint job, that I nearly missed the second interesting thing. To the right about three feet and at about waist level, someone pasted a series of pictures of one of the students, possibly from portrait day. Suddenly, the school had a soul. This building hadn't forgotten that little girl. I could imagine see her coming in to eat her lunch with friends... but what happened after that? On the last day of school, what happened? We continued to the stage in search of more, but found only a shattered mirror, and a fallen stage curtain.
Much was the same in the kitchen freezer area. A back door to the loading dock, and an empty walk-in freezer with nothing inside but a jar of pickles from 2007 (btw, it is 2009 at the time of exploration. Nasty.)
Out into the courtyard we went, looking for the next entrance inside. This came upon reaching a locked gate that led to the second floor of the school's west wing, then turning around to see the open door for the lower south wing. Through this door we found a hallway with several offices that would have been empty if not for shredded paper lying about, and we ended up in the School office area. Windows looking out into the hallway were smashed and cracked, held together only by the wire mesh that laid inside them. In this hallway there was one locked door, with the glass window broken out of it. This made for a cool picture.
In our haste to get to the upstairs music hall, we completely passed up the library. Damn! I didn't notice until later reviewing a map. Upstairs though, lies room after room of chalkboard grafitti, broken cellos and violins, smashed guitars, and rusting electric keyboards. An interesting site. I took a lot of time photographing each one. This floor is where I also found a map of the building to chart our progress. Just like in the video games...
One of the things I love, and equally totally hate about Urban Explorations is that moment when a proped open but locked door accidentally shuts behind you, and you know that the door in front of you is locked. Your heart leaps out of your chest at the thought that, "I might just have been trapped in here..." and you start to panic. But I beseech thee, stay calm. There is a way out. This is why I now carry a pocket sized lockpick set on me...
We were exiting the upstairs via a southwest stairwell, when the door behind us came "unpropped" and slammed shut. We looked at one another, then ran to the bottom of the stair well where we found ourselves locked in a cage-like outdoor room facing a locked door, and a restroom door to our back. One, Two, three... my heart was skipping beats left and right, especially when the first tug on the gate's door was impeded by years of rust. Thump, Thump, six, seven thump... The door opened on the next tug, relieving my anxiety.
Having seen all that was accessible and not looking for a breaking and entering arrest, we decided that we had seen enough for this dark and quiet night. I snapped a few more pictures, and we slid back across the playground, under the gate, and quietly into the night. As we were creeping to the car, I turned back, seeing the school again from the outside. I still needed to find out what happened, but I turned to the car, in need of hydration, vowing to return soon.
"Going to school does not make a person educated, any more than going to a garage makes a person a car"
10:30 am. We arrive at the site, where we meet two others, (a fellow photographer and friend) who upon looking at the school decide not to join us. The rest of us enter through the open gate this time, casually walking in unnoticed. Once again there is not a sign or person around forbidding us to enter, so we do. But all is not well.
The problem we encounter on this trip is access. Once inside the playground which is complete with high grass and scattered broken objects, we find all the doors locked, save a few. I sigh at the knowledge that I had at least been inside the locked doors in the previous exploration. We continue past the locked Cafetorium, around the courtyard, and over to the offices, to find the previously unlocked door now inaccessible. Just then, the gate behind us creaks open, with the wind, giving access to the 2nd floor west wing.
We turn and look at one another, then slip through the open gate. We are greeted by a flight of stairs, and two bathrooms. I take interest in a pile of kids books lying on the ground; The subject: "Ghosts". Hmm hopefully this is not foreshadowing the rest of our exploration...
Inside the bathrooms, we find very little, except broken sinks, toilets and an interestingly old looking heater hanging in each corner. Turning around and heading up the stairs yielded a very unique scene. The only light upstairs was coming from the end of the hallway bleeding through the double door and side windows.
And so we went, from the south to the north side, and every room in between. The first room on the right, we found an open window, giving roof acess. I was tempted to go out onto the roof, to see if I could use it to my advantage, but from this vantage point I couldn't see any gain in access. This room had what was the first of many chalkboards to come that read "Tommy and Woo" on it. I guess we weren't the first ones here, but most likely the first ones to enter with a repect and interest in history and arcitecture.
The next room was empty, with a few exceptions, a teacher's tablet with names of children on it, (handwritten roster) a film negative strip with biology pictures on it, and iMac computer user guides (not the new iMac, the old one that was basically just a CRT monitor with i bit more bulk). The classroom adjoining this one was totally trashed. Shreds of paper everywhere, broken wood, and piles of school work lay everywhere. It was creepy, becuase the room before it had next to nothing inside... It was a very controlled chaos... Crossing the hallway, we saw a few motivational posters, that I'm sure were there to keep otherwise depressive 5th ward hopes lifted high. After seeing a couple more empty rooms, we came across another with two interesting artifacts.
There was a posterboard on the wall that stated three phrases: "Meees world sex" "Get out spot" "Just do it". Sounds like someone went mad on the last day of school. Maybe the Superfund chemicals got to them?
Shhhh. We hear a noise. That moment comes again where you slide into the dark, and sit in total silence attempting to read the faces of your explorer companions, listening to your heart beat, trying to breath slow, deep and quiet, in an effort to slow your heart's increasing rate. We listen, but hear nothing else. Just the wind? Perhaps. I hope.
We finish the top floor, and head back down the only exit, the stairs, to check out the first floor for an entry, only to find that it is completely sealed up. Someone else has obviously been here since our last visit... When we reach our car we see a plume of smoke coming from somewhere down the road. Interested, and ever curious, we decide to check it out.
We had the opportunity to thoroughly see Bruce Elementary, and we did indeed. But, there is one last room here at Bruce that might still hold the answers we seek... I was upset that we missed it the first go around, but they do say the third time is a charm...
"No witchcraft, no enemy action had silenced the REBIRTH of new life in this stricken world. The people had done it themselves."
-Rachel Carson
We scouted this place out about a week in advance, as we usually do, looking for the best entrance. The front was wide open, but in perfect view of everything. The back was open too, but had much less visibility from outsiders, so it was our obvious target (pun intended). We parked at the store next door, walked along the side of the building, to the back, and across to the Target.
When we reached the entry point, we noticed lights on inside. The construction crews were off that day, or so we hoped. After listening for signs of life, and hearing nothing, we entered. We were greeted by makeshift walls and busted concrete floors, construction equipment and scaffold. Most of the entry area was empty, but mad efor some good pictures. We took a left, and headed for a large open area on our right, preceeded by an open doorway that led to a gated in trash disposal area. We will need to remember that for later.
In the middle of this wide open area lies a restroom for the construction workers, and an interesting sign warning shoplifters of Target's prosecution standards awaiting anyone who tries. The distant walls were laiden with large metal bars that made the place feel like a cold dark prison.
We continued to the front of the store, noting the obsessive-compulsive-like order that all of the construction lifts were parked in at the middle of the store. I take some pictures, and then continuing on to the front. We slid along a wall adjacent to the front doors, quietly as we could.
I peek around the end of the long wall to check if it was clear to proceed, and saw nothing. But just as I am about to turn to my fellow explorer and tell him the coast is clear, about 50 feet away, from the former spot of the sliding front doors, a man sticks his head in to look around. Shit! I quickly signal to my buddy to make a quick exit. We try to keep our footfalls as quiet as possible while walking as fast as we could. In my haste I accidentally kick a small piece of metal on the ground which makes a loud "CLANG!" as it returns to the ground. Now we are running strait toward the trash disposal area for an exit, praying nobody is waiting for us in back.
One of the more important rules in urban exploring is to always leave yourself at least one exit strategy. Proper planning ahead of time can save your ass big time.
We made it to the trash disposal area, and found the gate unlocked. We hurried out side, quietly shutting the gate back, and then we casually walked off. "What? No, we were not inside there... We were just strolling by!.." Another rule to always keep in mind, especially when you think you might be comprimised: Always have an alibi.
We made our way to the shaded fenceline about fifty feet from the back of the store, and made our way back up the side of the adjacent building, and to our car. When we drove off, there was another car parked at the entrance of the front of the store. The car looked to be running, but nobody was inside, possibly becuase he was in the building looking for us...
"Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck."
-George Carlin
Perhaps one of our shorter explorations, we saw Sierra Vista after we had left the Target store, and were in transit to base. "Whoa, look at that place..." my fellow explorer exclaimed. "The stairs lead all the way to the roof!" I accidentally cut a guy off getting over to the apartments I was so excited. (I don't know about all over the world, but I know here in Houston, it is not often at all that apartments, or any building for that matter, has an open staircase leading all the way to the roof)
