Ruin Porn

So, I'm really into ruin porn.

I'm glad to finally know that there is a name for this because I'm tired of listing, "I like abandoned stuff", as an interest on bios and applications. Ruin porn sounds so much better.

Ever since I was a little kid I've been fascinated with run-down, derelict, and vacant structures. I love history so to me each building tells a story- a moment that was captured in time yet all the players have been removed and is ever so slowly deteriorating back into the earth.

My love for "abandoned stuff" often poses a problem during family vacations because I could care less about things, oh say, like, the Grand Canyon. I'm off looking for some shack someone left behind.

In fact, during our Grand Canyon trip, I couldn't wait to get to f'ed up place known as The Salton Sea. That was my Grand Canyon.

Here are some of my favorite examples of ruin porn:


Ambassador Hotel- Los Angeles, CA

Built in the the 1920's in the Mid-Wilshire District of Los Angeles, this grand hotel with sprawling land covered in bungalows catered to the creme de la creme of Hollywood. Celebrities performed and partied at the world famous Coconut Grove. The Academy Awards and Golden Globes were also hosted there. However, The Ambassador Hotel is probably most notable for being the place where Robert Kennedy was shot and killed in 1968. During the 70's and 80's due to the area becoming riddled with crime, the hotel closed to guests by 1989. The hotel continued to be used as a filming location until its demolish in 2005 to make way for a new public school. I believe that the film, Bobby, which is actually about Robert Kennedy and The Ambassador Hotel, was the last film to shoot there. I used to live near The Ambassador Hotel and would sadly watch on as they tore down this beautiful relic of history. A news report said that the Kennedy Family encouraged the hotel to be tore down and make way for the much needed school.

Photographer Whit Wagner chronicled the last two years of The Ambassador Hotel in his book, "Late Check-Out: Images from the Ambassador Hotel's Final Two Years" Check out more of his beautiful photos here.

Salton Sea- California

The Salton Sea is a ruin porn fanatic's dream come true! I came across so many beautiful pictures of this abandoned lake located in Southeast California. Imagine a beautiful valley housing the largest lake in California surrounded by abandoned town after abandoned town! The history of the Salton Sea is a short one- The lake was spawned accidentally at that turn of the century from irrigation run-off. Not long after that it became a popular vacation getaway for Californians. By the 70's and 80's a series of events led to most of the inhabitants leaving: hurricane weather, botulism that caused mass death in fish and bird populations, and stinky algae. Now it is a ghost's playground. Many of the businesses and houses were left behind. The "beaches" are comprised of fish bones and the whole area smells like death. It's heaven!

By ME!

Beautiful picture by Ben Willmore

Source

Detroit- Michigan

And of course there is the King of all Ruin Porn- Detroit, Michigan. Below are beautiful images taken by French photographers, Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre, from their book, "The Ruins of Detroit"

You can find great photos of abandoned buildings and other gems at one of my favorite websites, Web Urbanist.

Do you like ruin porn? What are your favorite abandoned places?