Forgotten Heritage by Matthew Emmett
16/04/2015.
Photography
metalocus, ALEX DURO
metalocus, ALEX DURO
The photograph accompanies the architecture closely. While we are used to seeing photographed spaces designed by leading architects, full of life and a future ahead, in recent years there has been a tendency to look for these architectures of the heritage. The example of Detroit speaks of a certain human tragedy, a parallel that Matthew Emmett misses application on their work, being his personal search of an aesthetic that speaks of history and the passage of time on architecture.
Pipes galore in this detailed interior shot of an abandoned power station in Luxembourg. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
Vintage control desk within a long abandoned power plant in Belgium. In a place that once, buzzed with power and hissed with steam under pressure, silence now dominates this abode of dust. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
The large wooden fan blades of a historic wind tunnel at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, UK. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
Behind the 24' diameter fan blades at the Q121 wind tunnel at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
Beautiful gauges and bakelite handles within a historic power station in the UK. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
Within Cell 1 jet engine testing tunnel at the now demolished National Gas Turbine Establishment. Empty besides the jet nozzle at the far end. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
The pressure bulkhead and jet nozzle within Cell 3 jet engine testing tunnel at the now demolished National Gas Turbine Establishment. Planes such as Tornado, Vulcan Bomber and the Typhoon had engines developed and tested here. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
The interior of an abandoned geodesic radar dome, once a military listening post, now an odd ruin in the Belgian countryside. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
The photographer stood within the Cathedral, the largest open space within this subterranean stone quarry in Wiltshire, UK. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
Rows of brick arches within a Victorian era underground cistern. Used for the storage of drinking water. Long since disused. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
Beautiful industrial repetition and reflection in the semi flooded basement at an abandoned coke works. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
The exterior of a once grand coal mine in Belgium. Closed for many years it is now nothing more than a ruin. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
Beautiful architectural staircase within an abandoned university in Belgium. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
A classical colonnade within the grounds of a once grand country estate. 70 years of abandonment has turned the open and immaculate lawns into a jungle of bushes and trees. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
Looking straight up with a Victorian era sewage pumping station in East London. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
Looking straight up through the broken glass roof at an abandoned administration building in France. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
Looking straight up at the central roof in the covered market street of Leadenhall in the City of London. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
The rustic scene found inside an abandoned farm kitchen, way out in the Luxembourg countryside. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
A retro TV set from yesteryear sits among the ruin and chaos at a rapidly deteriorating manor house in the UK. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
Dusty old cases sit in a pool, of soft light beneath an attic skylight in a derelict farm house. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
2 chairs within an abandoned chateau in Belgium. Once used as a wedding hire venue, crates of Champagne flutes and cigars litter many of the rooms. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
Access staircase to a unique underground Victorian folly. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
The vast dizzying space within a hige Belgian Cooling Tower. Photograph © Matthew Emmett.
Here in METALOCUS we have been talking about photography during a while, focusing on architectural photography as well as on its photographers. While generally the architectural photography speaks about the future of buildings, recently built and with all their life ahead, sometimes we find really interesting on those photographs which speak about past, about forgotten heritage.
This journey through lost spaces and forgotten heritage is a personal search of the photographer Matthew Emmett which he gathers under the name Forgotten Heritage and with which he pretends to show to the world the positive face of those places on which much people only find stress.
He considers himself privileged to visit these places and despite the obvious difficulty to photograph spaces that speak of history now that they are empty, it is an exciting introspeción in the act of photographing.
Description of the photographer, Matthew Emmett, of his work
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. Having a camera with me allows me to prolong that thrill long after the building is gone. It’s an often quoted cliché but 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. I consider experiencing these places to be a great privilege.
From the point of view of a photographer there is a total lack of distraction in the stillness of a derelict building; the sound and movement associated with people or workers has been removed, for me this makes them far more sensory than when they are occupied. Your mind can easily focus on what is around you and takes in so much more. The building’s voice is clear and a character and visual aesthetic emerges that was much harder to define than if it was a busy, populated environment. Capturing this character and stillness comes across well in the photos and is something people tell me they love about the images.
It has been put to me that photographing ruins and abandonment is beautifying something actually quite negative that impacts real people and society in general. I make no apologies for finding something positive, an uplifting or beautiful aspect to a situation that others may find distressing. Photographers didn’t cause the site to fail and fall into a derelict state and with my own work I don’t feel there’s a parallel with photographers who shoot among the ruins of a town like Detroit and the human tragedy unfolding there. The buildings I am interested in are uninhabited shells. I am interested purely in capturing the aesthetics, character and history of the building, showing the passage of time and the effects of nature on a structure that is no longer being maintained.
Text.- Matthew Emmett.
Below you can also find links to his personal website where you can find more photographs. We highly recommend you to visit it and check all the material, absolutely interesting. We bring you a selection of photographs chosen by himself for METALOCUS with which illustrate their personal search of forgotten spaces with its own aesthetic and identity.
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