DevilDamo
7th November 2005, 21:47
Hi everybody!
I created a thread in the new 'Digital Photography' section regarding how to capture that 'special shot' in buildings, etc... I also showed a few examples of photo's that friends of mine have taken.
I and a few mates are interested in UE (Urban Exploration). To give you a background to UE, I have put down some reasonings and explanations behind it all.
What is Urban Exploration?</font>
urbex or UE, is the examination of the normally unseen or off-limits parts of human civilization. Urban exploration is also commonly referred to as Infiltration, although some people consider Infiltration to be more closely associated with the exploration of active or inhabited sites. In the USA, Urban Exploration may also be refered to as "reality hacking," "urban spelunking," and "urban caving."
Targets of exploration</font>
UE can further be separated into subcategories. Urban explorers do any or all of these things, but often specialize on one or two.
Abandonments...
Ventures into abandoned structures are perhaps the most common example of UE. Abandoned sites are generally entered first by locals, and often sport large amounts of graffiti and other vandalism. Explorers often focus on the natural decay, as nature grows trees on the roof and weeds in the carpet, and unnatural decay of the structure as scrappers, looters, squatters, and vandals demolish the building from the inside out. Exploration targets vary from one country to another, however some of the more common abandoned structures to explore include:
Factories
Brickworks
Grain elevators
Houses
Railway stations
Hotels
Missile silos
Military Bases
Abandoned tunnels such as mines, headraces, tailraces, and rail tunnels
Bridges, usually used by rail systems
Hospitals, asylums and sanatoriums
Tunnels...
Active tunnels include steam (such as those found under large building complexes with a central boiler), electricity, telephone, water, and other utility tunnels; subway or Underground Railway and other transit tunnels; and stormwater or sanitary sewers.
Utility tunnels...
Universities and other large institutions, such as Hospitals often distribute steam for heating buildings from a central heating plant (Boiler House). These steam ducts are generally run through tunnels, which are often accessible to humans for the purposes of maintenance. North American Universities that have steam tunnels often also have a tradition of steam tunnel exploration by students. This was once called vadding at MIT, though students there now refer to it as Roof and tunnel hacking.
Steam tunnels in general have been getting more secure in recent years, due to their use for carrying network backbones and mass hysteria over potential terrorism.
Sewers...
Entry into storm drains, or draining, is another common form of UE. Groups devoted to the task have arisen, such as the Cave Clan in Australia. Draining has a specialized set of guidelines, the foremost of which is "When it rains, no drains."
A small subset of explorers enters sanitary sewers. Sometimes they are the only connection to caves or other subterranean feature. Sewers are among the most dangerous locations to explore, and those who explore them are often on the fringe of a group that's already on the fringe of society.
Transit tunnels...
The penalties for getting caught in subway/underground railway tunnels are some of the strictest involved in this hobby. As a result, subway exploration is usually the least publicised type of exploration. New York City New York City probably has the largest num
I created a thread in the new 'Digital Photography' section regarding how to capture that 'special shot' in buildings, etc... I also showed a few examples of photo's that friends of mine have taken.
I and a few mates are interested in UE (Urban Exploration). To give you a background to UE, I have put down some reasonings and explanations behind it all.
What is Urban Exploration?</font>
urbex or UE, is the examination of the normally unseen or off-limits parts of human civilization. Urban exploration is also commonly referred to as Infiltration, although some people consider Infiltration to be more closely associated with the exploration of active or inhabited sites. In the USA, Urban Exploration may also be refered to as "reality hacking," "urban spelunking," and "urban caving."
Targets of exploration</font>
UE can further be separated into subcategories. Urban explorers do any or all of these things, but often specialize on one or two.
Abandonments...
Ventures into abandoned structures are perhaps the most common example of UE. Abandoned sites are generally entered first by locals, and often sport large amounts of graffiti and other vandalism. Explorers often focus on the natural decay, as nature grows trees on the roof and weeds in the carpet, and unnatural decay of the structure as scrappers, looters, squatters, and vandals demolish the building from the inside out. Exploration targets vary from one country to another, however some of the more common abandoned structures to explore include:
Factories
Brickworks
Grain elevators
Houses
Railway stations
Hotels
Missile silos
Military Bases
Abandoned tunnels such as mines, headraces, tailraces, and rail tunnels
Bridges, usually used by rail systems
Hospitals, asylums and sanatoriums
Tunnels...
Active tunnels include steam (such as those found under large building complexes with a central boiler), electricity, telephone, water, and other utility tunnels; subway or Underground Railway and other transit tunnels; and stormwater or sanitary sewers.
Utility tunnels...
Universities and other large institutions, such as Hospitals often distribute steam for heating buildings from a central heating plant (Boiler House). These steam ducts are generally run through tunnels, which are often accessible to humans for the purposes of maintenance. North American Universities that have steam tunnels often also have a tradition of steam tunnel exploration by students. This was once called vadding at MIT, though students there now refer to it as Roof and tunnel hacking.
Steam tunnels in general have been getting more secure in recent years, due to their use for carrying network backbones and mass hysteria over potential terrorism.
Sewers...
Entry into storm drains, or draining, is another common form of UE. Groups devoted to the task have arisen, such as the Cave Clan in Australia. Draining has a specialized set of guidelines, the foremost of which is "When it rains, no drains."
A small subset of explorers enters sanitary sewers. Sometimes they are the only connection to caves or other subterranean feature. Sewers are among the most dangerous locations to explore, and those who explore them are often on the fringe of a group that's already on the fringe of society.
Transit tunnels...
The penalties for getting caught in subway/underground railway tunnels are some of the strictest involved in this hobby. As a result, subway exploration is usually the least publicised type of exploration. New York City New York City probably has the largest num