Alice in Drains

 

Sometimes I do something a little different, and try to persuade the world that I'm an actual photographer, not just a maniac with a camera. And to do that, I usually find a real human, with a pulse and everything, to be a subject. But I keep it urbex-related just because that's where I'm at my happiest. 

This is my second time working with Alice in this capacity. Alice is a photographer and accomplished urbexer in her own right. She taught me how to actually use a camera, and I in turn didn't get her killed when we used an air vent to access an abandoned tower with a six-story drop. Alice does an entire photographic series of portraits with a creepy rabbit head, so we decided to combine our themes. We've done it on the rooftops before, admittedly to a more superior quality than I have done with this. But the rooftops are easy. This is my first time photographing someone underground, with no natural light. 

Well, except here. But this is the tunnel entrance. 

To be clear, this is not a sewer. Many, many years ago it was an actual river, and the powers-that-be decided they wanted Shrewsbury to be there instead, and quietly shunted it underground. It's possible to access this tunnel from both openings, one upstream and one downstream, and sometimes it's possible to see frogs and fish living down here, completely unaware that sunlight even exists. 

But of the risks involved here, we can probably rule out the likes of campylobacter, giardiasis, or methaemoglobinaemia, which is terrific. I don't want anything entering my body unless I can pronounce it. 

It's a good thing I can pronounce penis.

Truthfully this whole photoshoot thing is a little bit silly, but then when something like this is right on your doorstep, you've exhausted the exploration of it and documented it to completion, what's left to do but have fun with it? Because first and foremost a hobby should be fun. You remember what fun is, right? I know this is the era of Facebook, where we're just expected to stand around lugubriously and complain about vegan sausage rolls, other peoples genitalia, and a bunch of other shit that doesn't really matter, but out here in the real world the whole point of life is to have fun. 

To be honest, despite having no natural light in this subterranean playground wrought with hazards and possible death, these came out alright. It's almost like I know what I'm doing.

I don't. It's *like* I know. 

As a quick disclaimer or cautionary warning, exploring structures like this is very dangerous. It's a passage of flowing water, with numerous drains joining on, and if there was any sudden heavy rainfall this place can quickly become a literal death trap. There are real cases of urban explorers dying in storm drains. The water can get pretty fast, the floor can be pretty slippery, and there may be debris flowing along and other hard things to whack your head on. I don't go underground unless it's been a dry day. There's no phone signal and no natural light, so if something goes wrong, it can go VERY wrong. 

 

I can't speak for Alice, although we are on the same page about a lot of stuff, but I sort of envision her rabbit character as a type of cryptid, or slenderman-ish entity that is glimpsed but never actually interacted with. People may see it, but if they turn their head or blink, the rabbit will be gone, vanished in a puff of someone else's problem. 

 

Naturally I will conclude with one of Alice's photos of me wearing the rabbit head.

 

It's pretty cool. Obviously Alice is a superior camera person to me, but the entire shot in contrast the opening shot also shows what difference a wide angle lens can do. I was very jealous. 

And that's about it. It's just a small one before I start focusing on my travel blog again. I have something kinda big coming up, which is great because my recent posts here have all been kinda small.

If you like my blogs and want to stay updated, then unfortunately social media is the best way. Because the big ones (Facebook and Twitter) are all algorithmic hellscapes with more bots than fleshbag humans, that seem to serve only to bait us into arguments. I'm trying to focus my energy more on the likes of Bluesky, Vero and Cara. Social media does need to change. The internet was never intended to be the misery factory that it has devolved into. It needs to be about sharing creativity and hobbies, whether that's photography, art, writing, or even showcasing a collection of something. That's the internet I want. So definitely give those last three a chance if you fancy taking social media in that direction.

Thanks for reading!

Rabbit shoot

Sometimes I'll do something a little different, and photograph actual humans, with a pulse and everything. I mean, they are literally everywhere. I might as well do something with them, right? 

So I decided to do a photoshoot with my good friend Alice, which makes it more of a collaboration, really. Alice does surreal photographs wearing this creepy rabbit mask, and I do the urban exploring. Let's combine the two into some kind of bonkers rooftop bonanza!

I'm not entirely sure if there's any "lore" to Alice's rabbit photo project, but I sort of envision it as a type of cryptid or SCP. The rabbit is a creature that people might see out of the corner of their eye. Blink and the rabbit is gone.

Obviously, in the real world it's just Alice in a mask, but it's fun to play with concepts.

 

 

 

 

And then, Alice took a photo of me wearing the rabbit head, and looking somewhat more sinister. I sort of look like an extra from that horror-themed Winnie the Pooh movie.

 

 

And just to wrap it all up, I'll include a few that I took without the mask.

 

 

Creativity and posing aside, sometimes it's good to go candid, and just photograph people enjoying the fuck out of life. 

 

 

For me, rooftopping also evokes a sort of "separate world" vibe, not so much in the literal sense, but more in line with the China Mieville novel, "the city and the city," where two distinct cities inhabit the same geographical space, but are depicted as separate based on the perception of the inhabitants. The rooftopper sees a succession of secret worlds, mere inches away from the public and their version of the town, completely oblivious that rooftoppers exist.

 

But it's a good hobby that costs nothing, harms nobody, brings about a great feeling of escapism, and combines an appreciation of the urban landscape with creative problem solving. It's also really therapeutic if you have a lot of stress, and just need to direct that energy somewhere. Some folks hit the gym. I hit the rooftops. I should probably see a therapist, but this is way more fun.

 

So my next blog will be a return to normality as I talk about an abandoned military thing with a dead horse inside for some reason. I think the one after that is a military thing too, but that one has a boat. It's going to be awesome!

If you want to see more of Alice and her lovably creepy rodent head, be sure to follow the Instagram where she posts those photos. If you want to stay up to date with my ridiculous shittery, give my social media thingies a follow. I'm active on Instagram, although with my reach awfully reduced, you'd never think that. I'm also active on Facebook, a happy part of that 15% that isn't a grumpy boomer, and you can find me on Vero, Reddit, Twitter and Threads for some reason.

Thanks for reading!

Rectory Woods shoot

Today I'm doing something a little bit different.

My friend Charlotte wanted to do a shoot so that she'd have pictures for her social media and maybe start a portfolio, and instead of finding a real photographer she ended up stuck with me. Whoops.

So in the past when it comes to photographing human subjects I've always tried to combine it with urbex and rooftopping, but admittedly we wore that theme down to as technically-it-counts as possible with this location, a small ruin in Rectory Woods in Church Stretton. It's hardly a secret spot. We met a billion dog walkers. But Church Stretton is just a lovely place in general, and I just love ruins in woodland.

As for Charlotte, I've known for just over a decade, and it's bloody awesome to see her evolve from a shy teenager to a confident woman. And unlike many humans, Charlottes brain actually works. As someone often starved of decent conversation, hanging out with her was refreshing. Her Instagram can be found here. 

I don't know anything about real photography, and Charlotte had never modeled before. But the results weren't terrible.

 

These are my favourites from the shoot.

 

 

Prop-related shot. We decided to make some shots that looks natural and unposed, and also take advantage of these super awesome trees.

 

 

Also we went for the same sort of thing, but with a body of water too. 

 

 

And it was a hot day so the shoot made a great excuse for me to actually go into the water. The focus is a bit off. If you read my other blog, you'll know that the autofocus feature on my camera was broken when I fell in an abandoned slate mine. I also have dyspraxia so I'll never be able to hold a camera steady under normal circumstances, but doing it while standing bare foot on underwater tree roots that I couldn't even see made it particularly fun.

 

 

Charlotte actually was talking during this one, and I was just snapping away, so it is unposed.

 

I'm not sure how I feel about this one because the camera didn't really focus. But it is what it is. 

 

And here's one last shot on the steps before we called it a day.

 

For the sake of nostalgia, I'll throw in this shot of Charlotte that I took when we explored Vanity House together in 2015.

 

What a day that was. What a brilliant fucking house that was. It's been looted to shit now and completely trashed. I think that's why urbex is so important, if it's done correctly with the aim to document rather than destroy. Retro shots of Vanity House, or any abandoned place for that matter, capture it before the herd ruins it. It's possible to look at it when it was mostly untouched and imagine how it was when it was lived in.

That's all I got. My next blogs will be a few of Shropshires military ruins, and then a few of Shrewsburys tunnels. I'm looking forward to that one in particular.

In the meantime, follow me on Instagram, Vero, Reddit, and the shittier social media platforms, Twitter and Facebook.

Thanks for reading!

McDungeon shoot

(Disclaimer: Joking aside, I fully understand the risks/dangers involved in these adventures and do so in the full knowledge of what could happen. I don't encourage or condone and I accept no responsibility for anyone else following in my footsteps. Under UK law, trespass without force is a civil offence. I never break into a place, I never photograph a place that is currently occupied, like a home, as this would be morally wrong and intrusive, I never take any items and I never cause any damage, as such no criminal offences have been committed in the making of this blog. I will not disclose means of entry.  I leave the building as I find it and only enter to take photographs for my own pleasure and to document the building.)

I've always said that if I do move into portraiture then it should be kept within the established themes of this blog- locations that the public typically cannot get to. But I don't know anything about photography. However, I optimistically believe that avoiding something that one isn't good at is the fastest way to guarantee they'll always suck at it. So today is an actual photoshoot that I did with my friend Katie.

On the surface, this appears to be a series of photos of a woman taking shelter in some kind of disapidated castle. Perhaps she's chilling out? Is she waiting for someone or something? Is she alone in there? Is that Charles Darwin on one of the windows? I like to think there could be some kind of story to the shots.

But the truth is, my objective was just to see what we could make. When I realised that the famous cellar of Shrewsburys old McDonalds building was still briefly accessible, I had to do something with it. I didn't know how long it would be open for, the window of opportunity likely slim but at the same time, not one that should go to waste. However, I've already done two posts documenting it. A third would be overkill, unless I made it different.
So I decided to do a photoshoot, and began wondering who I knew who was visually interesting, badass enough to make the journey and also someone I'd be comfortable sharing my locations with. And upon considering who I knew who would look cool in an eight-hundred-year-old medieval fortification turned fast food dungeon, Katie sprang to mind instantly.

I first met Katie through our mutual friend, Emmie, who I followed on social media, due to enjoying her art and poetry. Then one day I spotted her at the pub and said "I know you from Instagram!" Unlike the old days when someone faced with this declaration might feel a little freaked out, Emmie instead accepted my compliments and upon recognising me in town on a later date, invited me to come drink with her and her friends.
Despite me being an antisocial boob, I accompanied her anyway and consequentually met Katie. The social dominoes have fallen, and here is the outcome-

That was loads of fun, even if the shots were largely experimental. It's good to be challenged, I think. It's good to look at ones comfort zone occasionally, and politely tell it to fuck off. I often refer to mine as "Mein Kampfort Zone," because the best way to repel anything is to make it remind you of Hitler.

Special thanks to Katie for being excellent to work with, and also being a master of the lost art of conversation, and special thanks to the spooky entities residing in McDonalds for being cool with us disturbing their rest. I imagine we were probably more fun to watch than 30+ years of humans consuming processed meat, thats for sure!

And of course, I hope this place eventually gets used for something worthwhile, and doesn't just continue to gather dust right under our noses. It's an awesome place.

Next blog post we're back to doing our usual thing. I'm in south Shropshire trying not to die, and then on my other blog, I've got a derelict college somewhere out there in the wider world. In the meantime, Like my Facebook page, Follow my Instagram, and I guess you could follow my Twitter in the hope that someday I use it, too.
Thanks for reading!

Rooftop Photoshoot 2

(DISCLAIMER: As an overall nice human being, I do not force entry, vandalize, steal, or disclose means of entry or location if it isn't obvious. I do this to protect locations and respect them. Trespass without forced entry is a civil offense rather than a criminal one, which isn't worth acting on unless one causes damage, steals, has ill intent, etc. I simply photograph and leave everything as I find it. I do not condone breaking and entering, and I do not condone what I do. I'm a danger to myself and a terrible role model )

Sometimes I'll try something different such as actual photography of actual humans, with pulses and everything. It's a step in a slightly different direction but I try to keep it consistent with the usual "forbidden tourism" theme of the blog by doing it on a rooftop or something.
It's not something I'm particularly great at, but as the saying goes, your first 10,000 photographs will be your worst. I've done two rooftop shoots now, and the photos have just sat on my computer and done nothing, although I did publish my photoshoot with Isla last year.

This photoshoot predates my shoot with Isla, and as such the photos have gone mostly unseen for longer. The models name is Jess. I met her back in the days when this blog didn't really have much social media presence.  Jess was one of the first to follow the blog on Instagram, and we got talking. Jess is pretty cool, and her life is one massive adventure. She's the kind of person who, if one happens to see her for the first time in a long while and say "Jess, it's been ages, how have you been?" it's not at all unusual for her to respond with something like "Ah yes, I crashed a helecopter into Guam, and had to live there for two weeks until I could afford a boat. On the way back I made friends with a homeless person, and we decided to hitch hike across Europe together for a bit. But I'm back now, and I have a new hat."

Obviously simply being on a roof isn't illegal. It's a bit like gay marriage, in that it's victimless and only bothers people who don't know how to mind their own business. If safety is a concern, then that's fair enough, but rooftopping is arguably safer than driving, in that we're not being hurled forward at speeds faster than humans can naturally go, with the only things saving us from a head-on collision being a stripe of paint and blind faith in the common sense of other motorists. With rooftopping, one only has their own common sense to rely on. In fact I think the only way to fall from these locations is to actively try, and that would be silly.
However I take full responsibility for the safety of someone who I'm photographing. In spite of how it may sometimes appear, Jess is never in any danger of any fatal drops. Most slopes and drops just lead to slightly lower rooftops.

Anyway, enjoy the shots that me and Jess made together. They capture the true enormity of the playground that is the world above the floor-walkers, and possibly even a sense of detachment from humanity, not necessarily in a negative sense but rather just a feeling of disassociation with the nice normal folk in spite of being among them.  Click a picture to see it big.

There's a few more shots that we took in the Knights Templar cave, but they're far more experimental. 

And that's it. Rooftop photoshoots are actually loads of fun, and a step in a slightly different direction for me, while keeping consistent with what I do. 

I'd love to keep doing it, and maybe even integrate more steampunk / dieselpunk / cyberpunk fashion into it, much like some of the photoshoots I've done at Whitby. But time will tell. Purists need not worry, I'll still be doing location explores, of course. In fact next I'm blogging about an abandoned school in Shropshire.

On a final note, you may remember in a recent blog post, I mentioned the passing of a good friend of mine, Becky Wood, whose life came to an end at the age of 26, shortly after giving birth to her daughter Ellie. Recently I've been made aware of a fundraiser in her honour, called Remembering Becky. My understanding is 50% of the funds raised will go to Leonard Cheshire Disability, which was a charity Becky supported. The remaining 50% will go to young Ellie, who has to grow up never knowing her mother. Since Becky was important to me and to a lot of people I'd love it if people could donate whatever they can, and failing that, share the fundraiser page.

In the meantime, that's it from me today. If you like the blog, share it wherever you want. And follow me on Instagram, Twitter and like my Facebook.

Thanks for reading. See you next time.