So I finally got out of the house for a bit fun (at long last!) but we didn't even make out of the city before we found a nice little spot to settle down in for a few hours.

We started at a church that was recently in the papers and is mid-demolition. I don't think anyone is going to mind me posting a photo of the POE given the situation.

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All in all it wasn't any great shakes, which was unsurprising, but we went there more or less just to have been there at least once before it was gone.

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We didn't spend a lot of time there, it is pretty much one big empty room, a few frescoes and some cool windows.


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My one friend actually climbed up to the bell tower despite the shaking, rotten stairs. It seems there is still one bell up there but the other is gone. According to him it looks like it went right through the floor.


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Lots of little details, if you're looking. And for some reason there were also about a dozen red x-mas tree and gingerbread cookie cutters. Normally that wouldn't surprise me but they were the only things there other than some smashed pews and doors.


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Like I said we really didn't spend a lot of time here. We did meet a city tiger though. Scrawny tom cat just popped up out of the rubble and ghosted right past us.

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The next building we went into was much more rewarding. Not much graffiti (though of course Live had a massive tag in the auditorium.)

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It was a pretty cool little school, and seemed to have most recently been an elementary school, though we found evidence of 4 different names for the school scattered through the building.

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I also found one very stubborn glass door.

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Teeny tiny desk, absolutely wee.

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Working window latches, just a little sticky.

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At some point all the classrooms were carpeted, but now all that carpeting is folded neatly in the hallways. Frankly I was a little surprised how little vandalism this place has suffered.

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I am seriously in love with the windows in this place.

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Did I mention there were wee, tiny desks?

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Very nice set! That cat is definitely on edge. Check out that tail!
Also, screw Live. That guy(?) needs to stop ruining everything in the Midwest!

Aw, you posted the poe? Wtf man?! :p Nice set!

Posted by relik Also, screw Live. That guy(?) needs to stop ruining everything in the Midwest!

Live is indeed a dude, and as it turns out he is related to one of my co-workers through marriage. Also, according to another tagger I met he got himself in a bit of hot water over the winter and was shot so spent some time laid up in the hospital. The vindictive side of me really hopes this slows down his march to ruin every beautiful place in the Midwest. The other side of me, well, hmmm, nope, that too really hopes that he has lasting, life changing damage. Don't tell my co-worker's husband.


DawnPatrol- Thanks! I felt really silly posting my set, then realizing yours was of the same two locations! Though it is fun to see the differences in what two different people walk away with image wise.

yeah! I enjoyed your photos, you got some nice ones!

Oh no! Now someone is going to go in there and trash that partially demolished church!! HA! HA! Seriously, nice pics. Thanks for posting.

Nice shots man!

Posted by whelve Live is indeed a dude, and as it turns out he is related to one of my co-workers through marriage. Also, according to another tagger I met he got himself in a bit of hot water over the winter and was shot so spent some time laid up in the hospital. The vindictive side of me really hopes this slows down his march to ruin every beautiful place in the Midwest. The other side of me, well, hmmm, nope, that too really hopes that he has lasting, life changing damage. Don't tell my co-worker's husband. DawnPatrol- Thanks! I felt really silly posting my set, then realizing yours was of the same two locations! Though it is fun to see the differences in what two different people walk away with image wise.

Are you serious? Wishing someone pain because they ruined your little photo shoot? BTW, Live is the reason some of these places are "open". Sure I wish places didnt get burnt up but wishing pain and death on someone because they practice art is extreme.

Posted by Chi-Ex Are you serious? Wishing someone pain because they ruined your little photo shoot? BTW, Live is the reason some of these places are "open". Sure I wish places didnt get burnt up but wishing pain and death on someone because they practice art is extreme.

I never wished death on him as he isn't that much of a dick, I just wished lasting disability on him, even if it isn't painful disability. Knowing what I know about him he's not a good person, not even a decent one. Bit of a gang-banger really which is how he ended up getting shot this past winter. Sure Live is the reason some of the places are open, sure if not for Live then someone else would come along and fill the void. I'm not annoyed with him for creating "art", I'm annoyed that he creates bad art EVERYWHERE, kinda like Andy Warhol. It contributes nothing to the experience of being in a place other than letting me know he was there.

Hell, I've met Amuse and despite the fact that he tags everywhere too I found him to be a good AND decent person and wish all the best for him. The only other tagger I've met I know personally, and he is a hell of a decent guy, he just doesn't ever stop talking. I'm still not taking him anywhere with me though as I don't want to see his tag ending up in the places I go.

On the subject of graffiti I have very mixed feelings, I've seen some truly beautiful murals and even tags, but 98% of it is crap. Just pissing on the wall to show they were there (which is how my tagger acquaintance describes it). I know you have to practice to develop skills just like we do with photography, and that a big part of the thrill is being somewhere unsafe etc. but I just wish that more of what I saw was more than a name with a few pretty colors.

Live's tag adds nothing to the character of the place...


If more people did things like this, I wouldn't mind it in the least....


Hell, you can even mix your peeing on something with producing something interesting and compelling!
]

You don't even have to awesome technical skills to produce something interesting and compelling. I get a kick out this every time I see it!



Chi-Ex, please don't go putting words in my mouth (that I wished death on someone) and we'll be fine. If you have a question about an attitude or opinion I hold just ask me about it instead. Who knows, you might even get me to change my mind if you talk with me rather than down to me. Have a good weekend, and happy 'splorin'!

awesome set!

Your friend climbed up to the bell tower in #4? Interesting. When I was there, there were really no good openings in the roof to get through and onto it. The place where the roof meets the tower, it's a good 8 feet to climb up to the shutters.

Posted by Battleground Your friend climbed up to the bell tower in #4? Interesting. When I was there, there were really no good openings in the roof to get through and onto it. The place where the roof meets the tower, it's a good 8 feet to climb up to the shutters.

Not sure which tower he climbed up into, but there was a bell in it. I know he took a ladder up to the stairs, and that the climbing rungs were still in place all the way to the top. It seems the stairs were a later addition, not that it matters much now, he's not a big guy and said that those stairs are in very bad shape, they were quaking and complaining the whole time.

I really don't care what graff "artists" paint in factories and industrial-type abandonments (although i do prefer murals or pictures [that octopus is rad!]), but when i see Live's tags in hospitals, schools and churches, well, that i do have a problem with.

Damn, that first building is wrecked. Nice shots

These pictures are so good I almost hate them XD Having graduated to Real Camera from half-broken point-shoot and, uh, PHONE (aww yeah), I hope that I can eventually start putting together shots like these. The cat is especially good, but really all of them are delightful.

Excellent! Such a Great eye and outstanding photography.

Ha! (@ #6) At the same church about 3 years ago, I stumbled upon some baby kittens in the basement. I was walking around and suddenly heard mewing. I had found the source - newly born kittens hidden under a chair cushion. A guy in the group had offered up his cap to cup them all in (about 5 or 6). We ended up bringing them to a shelter.

Very nice photos, by the way!

All that's left of the church right now are the two towers. The bell was still in the south tower so it did not fall down like some suspected.

Great find! Love the pics