|
|
|
UER Store
|
|
order your copy of Access All Areas today!
|
|
|
|
Activity
|
|
804 online
Server Time:
2024-05-15 02:53:22
|
|
|
AlwxzndrD10
Total Likes: 9 likes
| | | The world has gotten smaller. < on 3/10/2018 2:10 AM > | Reply with Quote
| | | Feel free to weigh in while I ramble for a short bit about something that has been on my mind. I have been exploring abandoned buildings since I was a kid. The sub division I grew up in had an abandoned farm tucked away in a patch of woods towards the back of the neighborhood. I would spend hours there taking pictures, digging around for old bottles, looking at all the stuff left behind etc... It felt so mysterious and isolated. Did other people know about this place? What's the story behind it? What else could be here? This type of mystery and excitement is what sparked my interest in this hobby. However, in recent years that feeling is gone, for many reasons... I remember in my younger years in the early 2000's the 'urbex' culture was just really cool and intriguing. It felt like I was doing something that had not been done before, like I was really discovering something whenever I found a new abandonment. I felt like there was still more out there, more untouched places waiting to be explored and documented. Hopefully some of you still feel this way. For me, I feel as though the internet along with other things, have ruined this feeling. With people bombarding platforms like Instagram and pandering for likes and attention, with things like google maps, making it possible to 'discover' locations without actually going out and looking, I just don't feel that sense of discovery anymore, I don't feel like there really is more out there to discover, like all the good spots are gone/been found already. I realize part of it may just be getting older, but I do feel part of it has to do with so many people constantly posting pictures online and being able to so easily use satellite imagery. TLDR: I miss the good old days when abandoned buildings weren't constantly on social media, weren't view-able on google maps and I miss that feeling of adventure and discovery that used to go along with this hobby Feel free to weigh in, tell me i'm wrong, agree/disagree, whatever!
|
|
| Hoover
Location: Michigan Gender: Male Total Likes: 75 likes
Quiet as a dang churchmouse
| | | Re: The world has gotten smaller. < Reply # 3 on 3/10/2018 8:21 PM > | Reply with Quote
| | | This is a really interesting topic, and one that I think all comes down to perspective. People have been claiming that "the world is shrinking" for hundreds of years. In theory, the global population rocketing upward would lead to less space available as human beings fill in every corner, making all real estate more valuable. I'm not convinced this is the case in practice. Now, I type this as I drive through the Traverse City State Hospital, one of the Mid West's greatest psychiatric hospitals/Kirkbrides turned tourist trap. As the old legendary locales crumble, it falls on the current "generation" of explorers to find and appreciate the new legendary buildings. As Dave said, the latest wave of architecture becomes decrepit as the old brickwork of the previous wave is paved over, or finally caves in the wind. The world isn't shrinking, the mannerisms are just changing. Consumer habits, corporate behavior, real estate value.. everything has its ups and downs. UE is as much about civic and social science as it is about adventure; it's just that the "why" is hidden under the surface, while "what" is tangible. "What" is each abandoned building we explore. That's my philosophy on it, at least whether or not today's ups and downs result in as many abandonments as yesterday's is probably closer to what you're talking about. I just don't know if there's an absolute, shrinking trend that will go on and on until every abandoned building ceases to exist. Edit: Clarity
[last edit 3/10/2018 10:13 PM by Hoover - edited 1 times]
| |
| Aran
Location: Kansas City Gender: Male Total Likes: 1850 likes
Huh. I guess covid made me a trendsetter.
| | | Re: The world has gotten smaller. < Reply # 12 on 3/14/2018 4:25 AM > | Reply with Quote
| | | I think a big part of it is that there are multiple "generations" of explorers. There's the originals who got started in the 1980's and the "Golden Age" explorers who went adventuring in the 90's and 2000's. But many of the old guard no longer explore. Some still do, but for many, they have gotten too old, or too busy, or just lost interest over time. The tight knit circles they formed drifted apart, and the community became wider and less cohesive. And the most famous abandonments, the ones that they found and that everyone else walked in their footsteps to, those are going away too. Redeveloped or demolished, the most famous old abandonments are gone. But that doesn't mean urban exploration is dead- far from it. There are more urban explorers now than ever before, but they tend to form subcommunities. The community as a whole is less cohesive- there are different social mores and standards on UER than there are on 28DaysLater than there are on Instagram and Facebook. But if you can find a good subcommunity like this one, then there's still plenty of exploring circles out there. They just take a bit more work to find. And we're still recovering from the financial crash of 2008. There are many businesses which never did and never will recover from the Great Recession, and many of those abandonments are still out there- but they are new. Less known, less visited- so it takes more effort to find them. And in the last few years, I've seen more younger explorers- college age, or late twenties. True, this site doesn't see traffic like it did in the Golden Age of Urbex, but it's easier to vet potential members than ever before. If you know someone on Facebook or Instagram who truly adheres to the ethics of exploring, point them this way. You'll be able to judge before ever telling them just by looking at their feed. The world has gotten smaller and more interconnected than ever before- but that doesn't mean exploring is declining. It just means we have to reach higher than the low hanging fruit.
| "Sorry, I didn't know I'm not supposed to be here," he said, knowing full well he wasn't supposed to be there. |
| Hoover
Location: Michigan Gender: Male Total Likes: 75 likes
Quiet as a dang churchmouse
| | | Re: The world has gotten smaller. < Reply # 14 on 3/14/2018 8:08 PM > | Reply with Quote
| | | Posted by Aran Everything he said
|
Aran hits the nail on the head, yet again To add to his thoughts, I think a lot of the "Instagram" issue is that we're seeing what Aran described, a different sub-community with different morals and guidelines, as well as different motivations. I've always praised UER in my head for (generally) being a pure haven for respectful exploration. Instagram and Facebook are definitely not those, they're easier to access and offer the "quick fix" to those who see TOP 15 ABANDONED ASYLUMS IN YOUR STATE articles by Vice and co. The ease of access through popular social media-- Facebook, Twitter, etc-- does nothing to dissuade people from hopping a fence and snapping a picture with their phone. At the same time it doesn't necessarily encourage respect or appreciation in the way that a more dedicated community like UER does, to use an example. Doesn't mean it can't happen, but in popular form we see less of it, which contributes to that "world is shrinking" feeling that some tend to feel. I think in that way, the popular attitude has changed towards UE, but that doesn't mean there aren't pockets of traditionalists putting in research and care into the hobby. Less than there were in the "golden age" maybe, but that doesn't immediately translate to doom and gloom. I'd argue that the "golden age" explorers dropping out had no influence on UE's rise through popular media. I think they can be two separate topics.
| |
| |
This thread is in a public category, and can't be made private. |
|
All content and images copyright © 2002-2024 UER.CA and respective creators. Graphical Design by Crossfire.
To contact webmaster, or click to email with problems or other questions about this site:
UER CONTACT
View Terms of Service |
View Privacy Policy |
Server colocation provided by Beanfield
This page was generated for you in 140 milliseconds. Since June 23, 2002, a total of 741774206 pages have been generated.
|
|