Showed SubLunar, mindwaave, and Panic (all from St. Louis) around Atlanta, and met up with Macaroo along the way. We hit up the juvenile detention center, Terminus, the amusement park, and an old insurance building. Water towers were climbed, security guards were evaded, pedestrians were yelled at, hobo’s porn viewing habits were analyzed, and good times were had by all. I brought along my Nikon D7000, Nikon FG, 11-16mm f/2.8, 28mm f/2.8, and 50mm f/1.8.

At the detention center we ran into a few contractors who were working for the current owners of the property. They were there to check the buildings for structural hazards, because the site is going to be used for urban military training drills for the nearby armory, and that it was going to be cleaned up a little bit. It was pretty great running into them, they were great guys and were interested in our photography. In addition, we found that the place got hit pretty hard by taggers and graffiti writers. Staircases: ruined. Pool: ruined. Gym: ruined. These locations are getting into the wrong hands too quickly. Why can’t we have nice things? A crew of “instasplorers” hit up the spot and fucked it up, tagging, kicking down doors, and smashing shit, cause I guess thats a “cool” thing to do. But i’ll settle my beef with the purveyor of this bullshit at a later date. I shot only film here so ill post my shots once i develop/scan.


The fucktard instasplorers/taggers:



Before/After:


An old photo that was left of the wall of one of the kids working out:






Next we made a quick stop at Terminus, and got into a few more buildings that were not open on previous trips.









Next, we made the drive to the amusement park, which was pretty fun considering I used to visit it when I was younger. Spent a few hours climbing all over the old rides and we cleared off the slides and had a few epic races down it. We decided to push our luck and hop the fence to the nearby amusement park (closed for the off-season) where, after only a few minutes we noticed the security guard, who was pacing the grounds. Thankfully, he didn’t notice us, and we got the fuck out of there.





Path by UER Turtl, on Flickr





Pirates by UER Turtl, on Flickr





Lights by UER Turtl, on Flickr





Trucks by UER Turtl, on Flickr





Swings by UER Turtl, on Flickr





Wagons by UER Turtl, on Flickr

Racing down the slides:








Lastly, we made a quick stop by the old insurance building, nothing much had changed since the last visit, save for a few more crack pipes and bottles of piss. Really interesting building though, great woodwork and tilework, its a shame that its been so trashed. Didn’t even pull my camera out for this one, but heres a few shots from previous trips for the people who aren’t familiar with the spot:

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2.


3.


4.


5.


6.


Overall, it was a great day. Had a blast showing some out of town folks the great city of Atlanta. Can’t wait to spend a little more time with them next time I can make a trip up to St. Louis. Until next time. — Turtl

Holy cow, so many awesome looking locations in one post. As a big fan of the Walking Dead, I'd love trying to figure out exactly where certain scenes were shot at Terminus. That amusement park looks like its in mint condition too, I really like the "swings" shot. It's a shame about the instasplorers. If they keep posting themselves vandalizing to youtube though they'll hopefully get caught eventually.

too much fun haha. we also got to act like pirates for a bit.

Was it the instagrammers to did the graffiti?

@dammband yes, there are about 30 photos of them there tagging. The group goes by "StreetShootersATL" and their little leader is a guy whos instagram account is "sig"

First time I was there Vedo & that portrait guy (in the first insta pic) already had pieces up. Looks like there's some other scratchy shit getting thrown up though, which sucks.

Its a shame to see it all fall apart so fast, but we only have a few more months with it so I guess it doesn't really matter. The portrait guy is Vedo, the sweatshirt matches the one that vedo was wearing in the pics of him tagging the pool

Ah, I see. That makes sense, been trying to figure out who the hell he was. My guess is this place once was a pretty well kept secret within the graffiti & ATL Bike Life community. I saw OBVS, Never, & some other folks up there too & plenty of tire tracks haha.

Indeed, it sucks we're losing the place! For military training nonetheless...I wonder if it will be like the Prison though, where they occasionally hold training sessions but it stays largely abandoned..? Or, did it seem like they were going to somewhat rebuild and contain the place?

Looks like a great day man!


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EDIT: At the request of the person in the photo I posted, this image has been removed. Despite it being public on instagram, I have chosen to remove it as I would hope someone would honor my request if this happened to me.

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You might recognize a name or two on this... I figure if they are willing to tag themselves publicly on IG, no reason I can't post it here.

These guys are retarded. I don't recognize any of these people since I don't use instagram.

Posted by dammband These guys are retarded. I don't recognize any of these people since I don't use instagram.

Really, you don't know who sloppystick is? We both know you do... And if you don't, I'll just tell you it's someone you used to and perhaps still do explore with.

Posted by Amishdelight Really, you don't know who sloppystick is? We both know you do... And if you don't, I'll just tell you it's someone you used to and perhaps still do explore with.

cheers

#5 is gorgeous!

Posted by Amishdelight Really, you don't know who sloppystick is? We both know you do... And if you don't, I'll just tell you it's someone you used to and perhaps still do explore with.

He may not know the username/person match up. I don't think he tags anything though, he just takes photos.

Posted by Jecht He may not know the username/person match up. I don't think he tags anything though, he just takes photos.

I'm going to choose not to discuss either of those topics. I didn't post it to start a fight... But I can hold my own if that's what this turns into.



I posted that picture, because those of us who don't like vandalism and tagging, deserve to know who they might not want to share locations with. I didn't accuse anyone of anything because I wasn't there... I wouldn't go with a group of taggers to vandalize a location. That's my personal ethical standard, everyone has their own, and we each get to decide how much someone else' standards influence our interactions with them.




~Amish

BTW Turt, that might be the best shot of the trucks I've seen... Love me some shallow depth of field man!


~amish

Like I said before, I don't use instagram. I don't know who that is.

Nice photos and locations Turtl! Sorry I couldn't help show them around.

Posted by Amishdelight I'm going to choose not to discuss either of those topics. I didn't post it to start a fight... But I can hold my own if that's what this turns into. I posted that picture, because those of us who don't like vandalism and tagging, deserve to know who they might not want to share locations with. I didn't accuse anyone of anything because I wasn't there... I wouldn't go with a group of taggers to vandalize a location. That's my personal ethical standard, everyone has their own, and we each get to decide how much someone else' standards influence our interactions with them. ~Amish

Starting a fight was not my intent, I was just clarifying something. I see no point in arguing over ethics. That being said, I was disappointed when I noticed that this location was covered in tags.


Turtl, I really like the "Swings" shot.

Posted by roachqueen Ah, I see. That makes sense, been trying to figure out who the hell he was. My guess is this place once was a pretty well kept secret within the graffiti & ATL Bike Life community. I saw OBVS, Never, & some other folks up there too & plenty of tire tracks haha. Indeed, it sucks we're losing the place! For military training nonetheless...I wonder if it will be like the Prison though, where they occasionally hold training sessions but it stays largely abandoned..? Or, did it seem like they were going to somewhat rebuild and contain the place?

The tire tracks have an interesting story behind them, but they're not ATLBL associated. I thought they were too at first, ill send you a link to what I found on them. We'll have to see what ends up happening with the place, but I know that I don't need a federal trespassing charge slapped on my record haha. Between the new fence being put up in front and the military training stuff, I think the spot is on the way out. But the POE is still open, and will be until the figure it out, so i'm sure people will keep going.