UPDATE 02.12.2019!
Unfortunately it is no longer possible to see the originals of this work as the factory has finally been demolished to give way to some new development.
This in itself, apart from the loss of the Art, it is probably a good thing as at least one youngster lost his life roaming and taking "Selfies" in the place. With all machinery removed it was a pretty dark and dangerous in places, missing equipment and piping having left gaping holes in floors resulting in rather long drops between them. It was also a refuge for numerous down and outs, drunks and a lot of drugged up kids.
This in itself, apart from the loss of the Art, it is probably a good thing as at least one youngster lost his life roaming and taking "Selfies" in the place. With all machinery removed it was a pretty dark and dangerous in places, missing equipment and piping having left gaping holes in floors resulting in rather long drops between them. It was also a refuge for numerous down and outs, drunks and a lot of drugged up kids.
Derelict Hermes Paper Factory in the Düsseldorf Dock Area
The images that follow were made on the 11.12.2014. I had spotted the dog on the door, the first image in the series, which had caught my eye a few days before. Having taken the image I noticed graffiti on the walls of the buildings where a railway siding passed between them, and it was these images which lead me on into Aladdin's Cabin.
All of the images have come straight out of the camera without any processing other than to size them down to 1200 pixels on the longest side and saved them for the web in sRGB. This is unlike other graffiti images I have published earlier. The earlier ones have all been optimised for the lighting, cropped etc., these however I feel are best presented untouched as it helps to show the scale of the thing and also the feeling and available light in the various halls of the factory.
All images were made handholding the camera, which due to the lighting conditions within the factory interior meant I had to use ISO settings of between 5,000 and 16,200 so I'm rather pleased with the results.
It is really amazing what is to be found behind the facades of some of these old buildings. Naturally access is not allowed so I suppose the taking of the images can be classified as a criminal activity. Not to worry gaining access was a bit like breaking in by numbers. One simply follows the empty aerosol cans of the spray painters. Along the railway lines between the buildings as I mentioned, through the hole in the fence followed by the hole in the wall. Bingo one is confronted by all of this, in many cases, fascinating work.
As mentioned the images have not been edited in any way at all, so please excuse anything offensive that may pop up, nothing really bad though. Seems to go with the genre.
Some of the images may appear to be truncated in this view, never fear, just click and an enlargement should appear.
Be interested in any comments you may have.
Enjoy, I hope.