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Home / World

What it looks like when humans vanish and nature moves back in

By Nick Whigham
news.com.au·
22 Jun, 2018 09:32 PM3 mins to read

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These epic pictures of abandoned places prove that "nature is stronger than man". Photo / Instagram

These epic pictures of abandoned places prove that "nature is stronger than man". Photo / Instagram

By Nick Whigham

There are plenty of places in the world where humans once thrived but for whatever reason picked up and left, leaving behind abandoned homes, buildings shopping malls and castles.

Whether it's because the money dried up or an area became contaminated, when humans vanish we cede the space to nature which slowly reclaims it.

The result is often eerie ghost towns full of quiet monuments to a more thriving past. It's the type of thing French photographer Jonathan "Jonk" Jimenez loves to take pictures of. He thinks it highlights the ephemerality of the human reign on Earth, reports news.com.au.

For example, he recently explored a greenhouse standing next to a boarded up castle in Belgium, climbing through a broken window to take some snaps.

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"It's a rusty place with broken windows, but still it's beautiful. I like to find beauty where you think you cannot find beauty," he told National Geographic.

View this post on Instagram

#picoftheday#pr0ject_uno#ig_masterpiece#manfrotto#lowepro#urbex#transfer_visions #justgoshoot #Canon_Photos#canon#canon5d #jonk @abandonedearth @itsabandoned #nature_takes_over #nature

A post shared by Jonk (@jonjonkkkk) on Apr 16, 2018 at 11:09pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

#picoftheday#pr0ject_uno#ig_masterpiece#manfrotto#lowepro#urbex#transfer_visions #justgoshoot #Canon_Photos#canon#canon5d #jonk @abandonedearth @itsabandoned @wired @fubiz @natgeotravel @canonfrance #nature_takes_over #nature

A post shared by Jonk (@jonjonkkkk) on Jun 12, 2018 at 11:24pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

Messy room !!#picoftheday#pr0ject_uno#ig_masterpiece#manfrotto#lowepro#urbex#transfer_visions #justgoshoot #Canon_Photos#canon#canon5d #jonk @abandonedearth @itsabandoned #nature_takes_over #nature

A post shared by Jonk (@jonjonkkkk) on May 13, 2018 at 11:12pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

#picoftheday#pr0ject_uno#ig_masterpiece#manfrotto#lowepro#urbex#transfer_visions #justgoshoot #Canon_Photos#canon#canon5d #jonk @abandonedearth @itsabandoned #nature_takes_over #nature

A post shared by Jonk (@jonjonkkkk) on May 5, 2018 at 8:27am PDT

He has travelled to more than 700 abandoned locations in 33 countries on four continents. The result is his new photography book Naturalia: Reclaimed by Nature which is packed with incredible photos of places where the natural world has swallowed up places we abandoned.

He started out as an urban explorer and his quest to photograph these abandoned sites still keeps him often trespassing into places where he technically shouldn't be, such as forgotten Soviet military bases in Belarus and an overgrown castle in Croatia.

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"I found a thrill in that activity, the adrenaline that I have been looking for in everything I do in my life," he writes about his work.

"It's trespassing in the sense that most places are private property, but it's trespassing without breaking or forcing into anything. Ninety-nine per cent of the time, they realise we are just photographers and send us away," he told the magazine.

View this post on Instagram

Abandoned hyppodrome #exploretocreate#transfer_visions #justgoshoot #Canon_Photos#canon#canon5d #jonk #picoftheday#ruins#pr0ject_uno#brascroisés #ig_masterpiece#manfrotto#lowepro#urbex #nature_takes_over

A post shared by Jonk (@jonjonkkkk) on Jul 20, 2017 at 12:44am PDT

View this post on Instagram

#picoftheday#pr0ject_uno#ig_masterpiece#manfrotto#lowepro#urbex#transfer_visions #justgoshoot #Canon_Photos#canon#canon5d #jonk @abandonedearth @itsabandoned #nature_takes_over #nature

A post shared by Jonk (@jonjonkkkk) on Mar 18, 2018 at 4:31am PDT

View this post on Instagram

I got myself the perfect reading spot... #exploretocreate#transfer_visions #justgoshoot #Canon_Photos#canon#canon5d #jonk #picoftheday#ruins#pr0ject_uno#brascroisés #ig_masterpiece#manfrotto#lowepro#urbex #nature_takes_over #nature#bandorebelz

A post shared by Jonk (@jonjonkkkk) on Jan 3, 2018 at 11:06pm PST

View this post on Instagram

Inside a beetle #picoftheday#pr0ject_uno#ig_masterpiece#manfrotto#lowepro#urbex#transfer_visions #justgoshoot #Canon_Photos#canon#canon5d #jonk @abandonedearth @itsabandoned #nature_takes_over #nature

A post shared by Jonk (@jonjonkkkk) on Apr 4, 2018 at 11:16pm PDT

View this post on Instagram

#picoftheday#pr0ject_uno#ig_masterpiece#manfrotto#lowepro#urbex#transfer_visions #justgoshoot #Canon_Photos#canon#canon5d #jonk @abandonedearth @itsabandoned #nature_takes_over #nature

A post shared by Jonk (@jonjonkkkk) on Mar 20, 2018 at 12:09am PDT

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