Lost Histories

Browsing through the blogger's of note list today I came across this blog that has heaps of pictures of derelict and destroyed old buildings. The photo's that I found on his site creeped me out no end. All these building's once so well kept (hospitals, theatres, hotels) are now completely abandoned and falling apart, whether due to general neglect or some sort of damage. have a look at the photo's yourself, but I'll post some here:

What is it about these that I find so frightening? Is could just be the fact that they look mostly like scenes from horror films, but even then, without the horror story behind it, they have a horrific feel of their own. A nightmare like qualitiy.

What it makes me wonder, to put it simply, is why do I feel so affected by these buildings? I think human beings put so much stock into what they create; into the building's they construct and design, into the decor and atmosphere - and to think about what these broken building's once were while looking at these pictures is like looking at forest burnt by fire, or the wreckage of the titanic - it's the change that makes it creepy. It's the fact that when we look at pictures like these we imagine (or I do at least) a bit of a slow film reel going through the time frame from when they were whole and beautiful and unqiue - with people bustling through corridors, dancing in ballrooms or birds flying through the branches - to shadows creeping in and paint peeling and all life disappearing. All the stories and lives that were attatched to the place suddenly seem as dead as the place itself. As abandoned, forgotten and broken.

I suppose it's a bit of human nature not wanting change that makes these images so frightening to me. The thought that everything we create should stick and last. It shows that emotional attatchment we have with so many things in the world. In a way it's silly because all it is is a bunch of bricks and mortar. That is just paint peeling from water damage, those are just exposed beams from the roof collapsing, it's all just cobwebs and dust - but we fill in the gaps with stories, and the shadows of the people who once walked the halls still remain. All of a sudden we sense the true history that may have been lost, and I suppose that's the frightening thought. What's sadder then an untold story? What's more chilling then a place that seems to scream "What has happened to me?!"? These pictures - these places - seem to breath with a hidden history, and there is no way to know how terrible these histories could have been. That's what is scary.