Matt Emmett photographs abandoned places. For some reason, I find his work hauntingly beautiful.
© Matthew Emmett
They are in the UK, and his website, Forgotten Heritage, is filled with shadow, light and dark, and the breath-holding way that abandoned building surprise us.
©Matt Emmett
From Emmett’s website: ““It’s an often quoted cliché but there really is a strong sense of palpable history present in abandoned buildings, the items left behind like paperwork in a drawer or plaques or signs in an industrial plant, allow you a glimpse into the past. I consider experiencing these places to be a great privilege.”
Kevin Dowd, also from the UK, creates photo collages that are both spare and rich in meaning. He uses a lot of images from childhood, but a childhood free of connection, allowing the reader to feel both loneliness and nostalgia.
© Kevin Dowd
Dowd has several collections on ghosts and the meaning of what we see and what we understand.
© Kevin Dowd
From Dowd’s website: “From this, I questioned the ephemeral notion of identity, as observed by the artist. These individuals were captured in a moment, their appearance just one minor aspect of themselves.”
Because today’s theme seems to be abandonment, it’s perfect to mention Herbert Baglione, who paints a different kind of ghosts on the walls of abandoned psychiatric hospitals.
© Herbert Baglione
These are shadow-ghosts, haunting what was and depicting memories that no one can honor any longer.
© Herbert Baglione
This project was created and photographed in Parma, Italy in an abandoned psychiatric hospital. The exhibition is entitled, 1000 Shadows.
Have a creative weekend!
–Quinn McDonald is a writer and creativity coach who is always astonished at the imagination of artists.
QuinnCreative 