Jonk
Jonk, the non d'artiste referencing his days as a graffiti and guerilla artist, seeks out his photo ops in “wastelands” – once thriving sites of man-made enterprises, now abandoned and slowly but inexorably being reclaimed by Nature. Across his career, he has found and photographed, in dazzling detail, more than 1500 such sites, in more than seventy countries on five continents. His formerly majestic houses are filled with mold, shrubs, and saplings. His industrial sites are partially digested piles of rubble, swallowed by life that doesn’t depend on commerce and manufacturing. Empty window frames and exposed construction metal are trellises for unbelievable, highly photogenic, Edens-in-the-making. Enjoy these beautiful, clearly spoken reminders that Nature’s power requires respect and care from every one of us.
"There are mostly three ways I use to find abandoned places. The first one is social networks. I have begun to have few followers, so I receive tips online – “There is this abandoned place in the village where I go on vacations” or “There's an abandoned place in the city where my grandmother lives.” Another source of leads is travel blogs. Bloggers often talk about abandoned places because they search for unusual/off-the-beaten-track subjects to share with their readers. For example, a blogger talking about Paris would not talk about the Eiffel Tower but more about that small street with colorful painted houses. The third source, by far the one I use most, is Google Maps, scrolled at a maximum in the satellite view mode. I scroll and look for anything that looks aban-doned – holes in roofs, for example, or unmaintained gar-dens. When I've found a likely site, I use Street View, when it exists, to help me confirm the place is actually abandoned."