Decaying Oases

I am now realizing that I am a sucker for abandoned man-made structures, though not obsessively so. Not yet, anyway. In my youth, I've explored the odd abandoned house, run through forgotten early 1800's era forts, played paintball in a decaying farm complex, and threw a rave in an old underground Nike missile base. I've even spent a little time browsing www.deadmalls.com and other sites dedicated to such places. I guess there's some sentimental fascination in seeing once thriving establishments now being reclaimed by nature - sites that at one time proudly welcomed people and families who anxiously made their way to visit whenever they had the chance. Places that were once someone's home and sanctuary. Places that allowed people to forget about their problems, at least for awhile. But now, these places have also been forgotten.

I'm also a sucker for good photography. Photography that captures, or even recreates, a mood you once felt about a place in the world is a pretty powerful thing. Or, even better - photography that stirs up a new feeling about an unfamiliar place and makes you want to go there. So, good photography of an abandoned place amplifies the emotional responses of both in a symbiotic way.

I came across these pictures of abandoned swimming pools today. Swimming pools are an interesting subject because they are an (sub)urban oasis, a place to be refreshed, to relax. They were, and still are, a required amenity for any hotel, resort, or apartment building. They are frequently shown in the main promotional photos for such places. It's likely that even the pools shown in these photos were once the crowned-jewel in promotional materials for their respective establishments. Look through Xploritall at the most luxurious 5-star hotel, and realize that it too will one day end up neglected as well. These pools were once state of the art. Kids were once yelled at for running toward them, and around their decks. They eventually saw less and less people, and then none at all.

But luckily, they now attract some new kind of attention.

Source: Chase Jarvis
More abandoned pools: J Bennett Fitts

Photo Credit: © Jonathan Haeber | Catskills, NY

Photo Credit: © Cari Ann Wayman | Two Guns, Arizona

Photo Credit: © Troy Paiva | San Jose, CA

Photo Credit: Thomas Hawk | San Francisco, CA

Photo Credit: © Saaty Photography | Northern Arizona

Photo Credit: © Phill D | Harpurhey Swimming Baths, Manchester

Photo Credit: © Laura H | Govanhill Baths, Glasgow

Photo Credit: © Julian Ratel | Isere, Rhone-Alpes, France

Photo Credit: © hkvam | Eyjafjörður, Iceland

Photo Credit: © Corman Phelan | Dun Laoghaire

Photo Credit: © Cari Ann Wayman | Chicago, Illinois

Photo Credit: © Troy Paiva | North Shore Marina, the Salton Sea