Soviet Tank Graveyard

In Kiev, there is a large tank grave yard filled with rotting cold war era tanks. They are side by side and stacked on top of each other. Space is apparently a premium there. As a kid I used to love to visit Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. They have an outdoor tank museum that has nearly every WW2 tank a kid could want to see. Lots of cool German panzer tanks some of which are painted in their authentic colors. Back then you could even climb on them a bit. The hatches and gun ports were welded shut but it was easy to imagine those metal monsters springing to life and charging across the open Maryland countryside. Here is a picture of a Jagdtiger by Narayan Sangupta he has an excellent site on Aberdeen and has many pictures of the tanks there!

Abandoned Soviet Particle Accelerator

Another rotting monument to the cold war is a massive particle accelerator outside of Moscow. The site English/Russia has a photo essay on it complete with strangely worded captions. I love the scale of these old Soviet endeavors. They werent afraid to "go big" and try something bold. I have had to sift through a lot of old Soviet projects researching the Black Ops maps. I found some really interesting stuff out there including the site that the Black Ops map "Grid" is based on. This massive antennae was designed to give the Soviets an early warning on incoming NATO ballistic missiles. Another possible setting for a map that was eventually rejected was based on a strip mine located near Moscow. It had enourmous rusting excavation machines like this one below.

Urban Decay

Poor Detroit. Im sure there are plenty of nice parts still left but the spectacular ruins make for compelling pictures. I think its the scale and the diversity of the derelicts that makes Detroit so unique. People are used to seeing old decrepit factories all over the country. In Detroit, there is so much more. Ruined skyscrapers, police stations, theaters and hotels - icons that command attention to an obsolete way of life. This is a picture from a new series of photos by two French Photographers Marchand and Meffre. Their work is haunting and fascinating and I really want to get their book Detroit - Ruins of an Empire. Some of their work is found here at SpreadArtCulture.com

Urban Decay

I love pictures of old buildings. They have so much intricate detail that you often dont see replicated in the glass and steel skinned buildings of today. When I see a delightful old building sitting proudly restored my heart lifts a little - call me crazy but this has been the effect that buildings have had on me. Surprisingly then when I see an old decrepit building whose former glory is behind it I also am inspired. There is something about a weathered rotted out hulk of a building that speaks to me. I can remember back to when I encountered my first really grand ruins in the UK. The ones that I remember the most Fountains Abbey,Melrose Abbey and Rievaulx Abbey. As I got into photography in college, I found myself taking more pictures of buildings than people - much to the chagrin of women that I dated. Whenever I find a really cool photo essay on a ruin I naturally have to check it out. Today is one of those days...From the Blog The Kingston Lounge comes these amazing shots of a long abandoned institution on North Brother Island in the East River of NYC. Here is a shot of the former nurses quarters...

Chernobyl 25 Years Later

From TotallyCoolPix

Interesting photo essay on the area around Chernobyl. Prypiat is the name of the town and the setting for the COD: Modern Warfare mission "Ghillies in the Mist." Not far from here is the location for the COD: Black Ops MP map that I designed called "Grid." In fact for a while we were considering having the Chernobyl reactor as a landmark in the off map area called the sky box.