Introduction
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| The Ruins of Bombay Beach (Natasha Petrosova) |
A two-hour drive in any direction from the beautiful California coast, one
will discover a mostly unseen, but rather peculiar side of the Golden State. Set
apart from the trendy, sophisticated crowds, delightful weather, densely populated
cities, and busy freeways, a half rural/half abandoned region of California offers an
uncanny experience within its two great deserts, the Colorado and Mojave. The
deserts are well known for their strenuous summers, old mining towns, deserted
Salton Sea shores, abandoned military bases, and other offbeat attractions.
What makes those desolated buildings, places, and towns in the middle of the
desert so interesting to visit? Why do people travel countless miles to explore and
photograph them? From an abandoned building to a deserted town, these places
evoke feelings, and ignite the imagination to ponder the past and the future. They are
full of history, and rich with memories; they hint at the journeys of early settlers, full
of big dreams and bigger failures; they bring up tales of towns and communities
that, for one reason or another, didn’t make it; and they offer us a suggestive glimpse
to a post-apocalyptic future… what happens when we are gone?
Most fascinating, almost none of these abandoned places are technically
abandoned. Towns like Johannesburg, Keeler, and Bombay Beach, for instance, all
claim full-time residents. Abandoned Navy Base, Camp Dunlap was transformed
into Slab City, with more than 12,000 winter residents. Abandoned buildings draw
frequent visitors, tempted to explore what lies within their walls. Some of the
buildings serve as a permanent residence for wildlife, and a temporary rest stop for
passing drifters.
I visited these places, and this is what I found...
A two-hour drive in any direction from the beautiful California coast, one
will discover a mostly unseen, but rather peculiar side of the Golden State. Set
apart from the trendy, sophisticated crowds, delightful weather, densely populated
cities, and busy freeways, a half rural/half abandoned region of California offers an
uncanny experience within its two great deserts, the Colorado and Mojave. The
deserts are well known for their strenuous summers, old mining towns, deserted
Salton Sea shores, abandoned military bases, and other offbeat attractions.
will discover a mostly unseen, but rather peculiar side of the Golden State. Set
apart from the trendy, sophisticated crowds, delightful weather, densely populated
cities, and busy freeways, a half rural/half abandoned region of California offers an
uncanny experience within its two great deserts, the Colorado and Mojave. The
deserts are well known for their strenuous summers, old mining towns, deserted
Salton Sea shores, abandoned military bases, and other offbeat attractions.
What makes those desolated buildings, places, and towns in the middle of the
desert so interesting to visit? Why do people travel countless miles to explore and
photograph them? From an abandoned building to a deserted town, these places
evoke feelings, and ignite the imagination to ponder the past and the future. They are
full of history, and rich with memories; they hint at the journeys of early settlers, full
of big dreams and bigger failures; they bring up tales of towns and communities
that, for one reason or another, didn’t make it; and they offer us a suggestive glimpse
to a post-apocalyptic future… what happens when we are gone?
desert so interesting to visit? Why do people travel countless miles to explore and
photograph them? From an abandoned building to a deserted town, these places
evoke feelings, and ignite the imagination to ponder the past and the future. They are
full of history, and rich with memories; they hint at the journeys of early settlers, full
of big dreams and bigger failures; they bring up tales of towns and communities
that, for one reason or another, didn’t make it; and they offer us a suggestive glimpse
to a post-apocalyptic future… what happens when we are gone?
Most fascinating, almost none of these abandoned places are technically
abandoned. Towns like Johannesburg, Keeler, and Bombay Beach, for instance, all
claim full-time residents. Abandoned Navy Base, Camp Dunlap was transformed
into Slab City, with more than 12,000 winter residents. Abandoned buildings draw
frequent visitors, tempted to explore what lies within their walls. Some of the
buildings serve as a permanent residence for wildlife, and a temporary rest stop for
passing drifters.
abandoned. Towns like Johannesburg, Keeler, and Bombay Beach, for instance, all
claim full-time residents. Abandoned Navy Base, Camp Dunlap was transformed
into Slab City, with more than 12,000 winter residents. Abandoned buildings draw
frequent visitors, tempted to explore what lies within their walls. Some of the
buildings serve as a permanent residence for wildlife, and a temporary rest stop for
passing drifters.
I visited these places, and this is what I found...