An Alternate Perception

abandoned rusted factory
Warren Steel Abandoned Steel Mill Ohio

Images of blighted, broken industry, through the decay and destruction of nearly post-apocalyptic scenes have become a much greater intriguing subject for the people of our world in current time, it seems. Flashback to the 1960s, or even the 70s when life was a bit more free, lacking technology and the constant grinding chatter of an online social networking presence. The general outlook on our future world was a wondrous one, filled with smoothly operating hover cars, tall chrome and glass buildings, complete with an incredibly perfect networking community nearly free of depression, or half of the issues we are facing today.

Fast-forward 30+ years later, and here we are stuck in a madhouse.

The average outlook on our future world has become one of a gray, crumbling city skyline. Our industry has fallen, the community is very loosely knit, and we left behind many structures we once found wonderful. Prices are up, jobs are down, and sometimes it feels like you can’t do anything without having your life synced to a gmail account.

All of the technology we had dreamt of having in the 60s and 70s has finally come to creation in reality, but at the same time it has broken us down as a community, causing just as many problems as it has created innovations. With new technology constantly building, many of these places around us are being forgotten, tossed aside as trash and left to rot under the elements. Fields of trees and open areas full of nothing but nature are being dug up, torn up, torn down, ripped to dirt for brand new shops, car dealerships, etc. while the old ones are left behind.

Everywhere we go, we see people with their faces buried in a phone instead of a book, reading conspiracy theories instead of truly informative information.

Our entire perception of our future has been altered to a vast, dark, grey world of destruction. Our drive towards this brand new futuristic society has become skewed, and left us blinded, forgetting about what has left been left behind, including both nature and architecture. Now that we have the technology we once dreamt of, we see that it is doing as much damage as it is doing good. I believe this may be why people have become much more interested in these images of decay, because somewhere in everyone’s mind we know this is what our future has come to, and it is such a drastic change.

People have become interested in what the reality of our future has really become, some nearly baffled that this is what our world has come to, and even more so surprised when they learn that most of these structured depicted in images sit nearly in their own backyard.

With the destruction of so much nature, we are left with less to look at, while at the same time making the great places harder to find. I love to document these hidden areas, showcasing the gifts that our world can give to us naturally. It shares such beauty with us, yet we continue to tear it down until we have so little left. Through my photography, I document the destruction we have created, and everything we have left behind. When nature reclaims its place, we realize how truly small we are in this world, and it can create such a beautiful scene.

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