Abandoned (essay)

[PatrickONeill]

Ok, I'll preface my essay as coming from no background whatsoever as a photojournalist. When every neighbor next to us foreclosed and/or defaulted on their mortgagees due to unemployment, it was really spooky to have no neighbors say the least. This essay focuses on what happens to these homes after they are abandoned; typically, they are broken into chronically, and since I'm living in a semi-rural area, the police just can not deal with theft deterrence, and so its almost a free pass to loot houses for scrap metals.

Here are few selected images from a book that I put together after a year of documenting theses homes.


Abandoned by lightcapturestudio, on Flickr


Dish | Water Heater by lightcapturestudio, on Flickr


Before | After by lightcapturestudio, on Flickr


A/C Unit by lightcapturestudio, on Flickr


broken in by lightcapturestudio, on Flickr


princess by lightcapturestudio, on Flickr


no tresspassing by lightcapturestudio, on Flickr


leveled pad site by lightcapturestudio, on Flickr


clouds by lightcapturestudio, on Flickr

full essay here

The good news is that six months after I finished up the project; we've had people come back into the neighborhood and about half of the homes are now occupied (much better than before). However, a house was broken into again last week , at least it's not as frequent as it used to be.

opinions and reactions?

Thank you for your time :)