Ignoring KEEP OUT Signs Lets A Photographer Share The World’s Secret Treasures

We’ve looked at some of urban exploration photographer Matt Emmett’s photography before, and luckily for all of us, he’s still at it, blithely ignoring the No Trespassing and Access Prohibited signs to take photos in places most of us never see.

Emmett, whose ever-expanding collection is titled Forgotten Heritage, travels to abandoned, shuttered places across his native U.K. and throughout Europe, from factories to military compounds to houses and schools, and takes haunting photos that capture both their current decay and former glory. He acknowledges that it might sound cliché, but, he says, “there really is a strong sense of palpable history present in abandoned buildings, the items left behind like paperwork in a drawer or plaques or signs in an industrial plant, allow you a glimpse into the past.”

Some of the places are merely shells, vast cavernous spaces that were once full of human activity and now resemble alien ruins. Some are still full of items that show exactly what was happening on the place’s last operational day. Some places date from a distant past, and some come from not very long ago. All circumstances are equally eerie, and make for equally remarkable photos.

Exploring abandoned places, particularly those with explicit instructions not to do so, comes with risks of both the legal and physical kind, but that doesn’t stop Emmett. “There is a thrill in exploring an environment that allows you to step into a previously unknown world and discover something first-hand, taking your time and noting the details as you go,” he says. “Having a camera with me allows me to prolong that thrill long after the building is gone.”

You can keep up with Emmett’s latest adventures on Facebook.