In my art, shooting in abandoned places is not just a technical element of a shoot. Shooting in abandoned places is a world, a culture, a niche, and a series, all on its own.

Abandoned buildings themselves are image-worthy and many an ‘UrbEx’ photographer burrows their way into the most obscure of derelict destinations for interesting imagery. What I am most interested in is the merging of the human element with these fascinating architectural palimpsests of history, how I can add my temporary ‘graffiti’ in the form of my own body, imprinted in the air like a phantom, or strangely juxtaposed by magnificent elements like intact huge mirrors and wall murals, to complement the peeling paint, rotten windows and unearthed floors.

I bring you 'Abandoned': a fusion of art, textual matter, and technical ‘how-to’, under the encompassing theme of the abandoned building. At its simplest level it shows the beauty and grandeur to different buildings I have visited during my random adventures, and to bring them together under one umbrella term as a celebration of colour, decay, and juxtapositions. It also explains some of the history of the buildings I have visited: namely the British mental asylum, which I became interested in shortly after my first visit to a derelict asylum, Hellingly Mental Hospital in East Sussex.

I also talk about various facets as to why I enjoy the opportunities in these places: light and dark, the unique conditions, the element of the unexpected, and the thoughts and adrenalin that one experiences whilst walking in them.

For those who are interested in learning a tip or two, I also describe how the use of HDR (high dynamic range) can significantly aid the capturing of the high contrast lighting situations in abandoned places, which is often tricky. Using animate subjects in auto-bracketed images is not generally advisable, but I show you how it can be done.

The luxury large format (13 x 11") is only fitting for these images, most of which are shot with a full-frame DSLR and are intended to be seen as large-scale edition prints. For the first time in one of my Blurb books, I give the details of the limited edition sizes and numbers for each image. Another first: I have also published non-self-portrait images including my images of Tim Andrews, a former lawyer who engaged in a project to be shot by over a hundred photographers after retiring due to Parkinson’s disease.

I hope you enjoy this book!