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Beauty in Decay: Urbex: The Art of Urban Exploration [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

RomanyWG
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
RRP: £19.95
Price: £13.97 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Book Description

3 Aug 2010
Just who decides which doors are closed in our world and whose interests do they serve? Do we wish to be kept in the dark, permanently safe, free from either harm or adventure?
For all of us there is a deep attraction to be found in opening these doors. They open a rift in our collected experiences and throw new light on the boundaries we've all been forced to accept. There is only one way to find out what's hidden behind these barriers. Sit back, hold on and surrender to your imagination as we unlock the door to an extraordinary unseen world of beauty in decay.

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Beauty in Decay: Urbex: The Art of Urban Exploration + Beauty in Decay II: Urbex + FORBIDDEN PLACES - Exploring our abandoned heritage
Price For All Three: £48.32

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 192 pages
  • Publisher: CarpetBombingCulture (3 Aug 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0955912148
  • ISBN-13: 978-0955912146
  • Product Dimensions: 26 x 2.3 x 26 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 27,065 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Product Description

Review

Street art is exciting. We know that but we might be so deep in it, that we forget it every once in a while. Untitled III reminds us. It also reminds us that we're far from there yet. Wherever there might be. To take some words from the book: Street art is ill defined, street art is a thin line between good and evil, street art is the occasional stroke of genius --CFYE

Now I'm lucky enough to have part I and II here as well, and I read through both again to find if there is something that sets `This is Street Art' apart from its predecessors, except the obvious of course. I'm happy to inform you that there isn't. They found the perfect formula to document and question what is happening, and to provoke the mind. --Arden de Raaij

From the Publisher

What's the Story with Urban Exploration?
It's easy to describe what an Urban Explorer does; they infiltrate into abandoned buildings and industrial sites and explore them, often taking photographs along the way. They don't steal, vandalise or even leave graffiti behind them. In fact their code of honour is reminiscent of the rambler's way: Take only pictures, leave only footprints. It is, on the other hand, not so easy to describe the whys and wherefores.
Think back to your childhood for a moment and it all begins to make sense. Do you remember the terrifying yet seductive draw of the archetypal haunted house? Every neighbourhood and every childhood has one. At the very point we cross the border from childhood into adolescence we cross real physical borders too. It's the moment in our lives when we test the boundaries. We finally pluck up the courage to break into the haunted house and take a look around. You can probably remember your own experiences of this. And there will be at least one.

The Urban Explorer feels that we, in the comfortable and over-protected `first world' are living in an enforced and extended state of childhood. They have remembered that they are capable of having unmediated experiences of reality and they welcome the fear that may (or may not) come with those experiences. The fear itself is the gateway to go through. It's the gateway that leads for many to `wonderland'. This is the world through the looking glass that in some dark corner of every soul, we are all looking for.

The strange thing then is not that Urban Explorers exist; it's that the rest of us have forgotten that we are Urban Explorers too.


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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
28 of 32 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars A book of HDR 1 Nov 2010
By Urbex0r
Format:Hardcover
I have spent a while viewing this book in my local Waterstones and at a friends who bought it, and was disapointed with the sheer amount of processing involved. There's a great set of locations there, some of which I have visited myself. It's such a shame the that atmosphere of these places is lost by tonemapping them to look like a still from a video game, especially those with gas mask faced figures in them - what does that achieve?

On a positive note, there's a great selection of locations and some excellent compositions in there, largely spoilt by overmanipulation of the images to a point that they lose the realism that can be presented with straightforward photographs.

I'd like to see the photographs that went into making these HDR images - perhaps you could release these in a separate book?

Who was the book made for, the people that want to see what these fascinating places are like inside, or for the graphical artists involved to demonstrate the capabilities of the latest tone-mapping software.

Compared to other dereliction based books that I've read/bought such as FORBIDDEN PLACES - Exploring our abandoned heritage, Abandoned Places,Asylum, Night Vision: The Art of Urban Exploration and After the Wall, this book just doesn't stand up to the quality of photography.

Overall dissapointing, given my high expectations.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Beauty in Decay 14 Mar 2012
By laurie
Format:Hardcover
A visually stunning book, full of rich inspiring images providing a really interesting insight into the ethos of urban exlorers. Most photographers probably started out by taking photos of derelict buildings and abandoned places (lets face it who hasnt got a few such images tucked away in some forgotten corner of their hard drive) but these are the images that most of us could only dream of capturing. Perhaps more importantly this book reminds us of the importance of documenting and recording the faded remains of these once great buildings before they disappear from view forever.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By Konrad
Format:Hardcover
A brilliant book to gain inspiration to take your own deralict photographs and some interesting information inside the book. Although it is more like a picture book. A picture is a thousand words.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Captivating
Bought this as a gift to my dad who enjoys photography. Really fascinating array of locations featured and high quality print
Published 1 month ago by hahj
5.0 out of 5 stars Beauty in Decay: The Art of Urban Exploration
The illustrations in this book are fabulous. My daughter likes to do a bit of exploring and she has read and re-read this book. It is the best one I have seen on the subject
Published 3 months ago by Lucy
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
I am delighted to have purchased this book. The photography is remarkable and the text allows the reader to enter into secret spaces that capture both possible dangers and multiple... Read more
Published 6 months ago by AJ
5.0 out of 5 stars What it says on the tin
I have always found decaying structures fascinating and this superb book underlines why. Just shows you that photography is not just about glorious outdoor landscapes or portraits
Published 9 months ago by Mr. M. Ogborn
4.0 out of 5 stars Beauty in Decay
Very nice, especially for the price. Inspirational images in a beautiful book. Like the abandoned hospitals and assylums. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Lightwolf
5.0 out of 5 stars Not Just Great Pictures
This book contains some stunning images which I could look at all day but the text inbetween is so interesting to read too, there is quotes from Urban Explorers as well as more... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Gwen
2.0 out of 5 stars Processed Paradise
This book contains a good selection of venues in a well laid-out format. There are a generous number of pictures to browse and observe. Themes flow with ease and create interest. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Nephrite
5.0 out of 5 stars Thick Enough To Crack An Egg
This book is thick, mainly because it has a lot of pages in it and most of those pages have pictures glued to them, which probably thickens it up a bit. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Chaffro
5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely awesome
I really love this book. I saw it in a bookstore, whilst browsing and bored, and thought it was amazing. Read more
Published 21 months ago by JB87
2.0 out of 5 stars Over worked
I have had the opportunity to explore and photograph a number of derelict sites across Europe and was keen to see how images could be presented in a book form...... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Danny der Rote
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