PLACES THE WORLD FORGOT

The places the world forgotEmail

Frozen stars

My first stop was Italy’s Apennine Mountains to explore a former NATO base. Built during the Cold War, it has been disused since the collapse of the Berlin Wall. As we got closer to the mountain pass, snow took us by surprise and we were forced to spend the night in the car. The next evening we hiked to the base through 50cm-deep snow. The facility was immaculate under the bright moon and the satellite dishes were covered with ice. Stars and mountains surrounded us. The scene was otherworldly and inspired this sci-fi-like shot. Credit: David de Rueda

Night souls

In 1973, a US Navy Douglas DC-3 was forced to crash on Iceland’s south coast. The crew survived and the wreck has remained there for more than 40 years. I arrived at the site at 4 am, and as I was setting up for the shoot, the Northern lights started to dance in the night' sky. It couldn’t have been any more magical. I used a 90-second exposure with some light painting added inside the plane to capture this image. Credit: David de Rueda

The mothership

Linnahall, a huge concrete concert hall located on the Old Town’s harbour in Tallinn, Estonia, opened in 1980 for the sailing events of the Moscow Summer Olympics. The last concert took place in 2009, and the 4,800 seats have remained empty ever since due to high maintenance costs. I spent a couple of hours capturing the perfect angles and shapes in the impressive main hall with my wide-angle 14-24mm f/2.8 lens. A two-minute exposure allowed me to reveal the architecture of the place, which otherwise sat in darkness. The central framing gives the photograph its power, drawing the eye to the centre. To me, it almost looks like a spaceship. Credit: David de Rueda

High frequency

This experimental research facility, built in the 1970s by the Russian Electrical Engineering Institute to test lightning insulation, was at the top of my bucket list for Russia because of its unique aesthetic. Located in the middle of a forest on the outskirts of Moscow, the disused facility looks like something out of the future and remains guarded by a security team with a pack of dogs. Luckily, a guard allowed me inside the facility for a few short minutes. As the sun was setting, I didn’t have much time to find the perfect point of view. A chance bird flying overhead added poetry to the scene. Credit: David de Rueda

Suspicious paths

Red Triangle is one of Saint Petersburg’s oldest factories. Built in the 1860s, it became Russia’s biggest industrial plant and the world’s leading rubber manufacturer. Today it’s almost completely abandoned, with just a few buildings still in use. I spent hours wandering through the endless vacant workshops, corridors and staircases. Like me, the model in the image is exploring the labyrinth and trying to find the exit. Credit: David de Rueda

Beyond time

Near Budapest, Hungary, I explored an abandoned thermal power station that was built in the mid-20th century and has been disused for almost 20 years. I had to enter the plant through the belt conveyor, crawling and climbing along a 100m-long dusty corridor. It turned out, this was the ideal location to create this “apparition” and reference the ghosts of this structure’s heritage. I used a 70-200mm f/2.8 telephoto lens on my D810 camera to get a good central perspective, and placed my model in the sun rays to get the best effect with the dust highlighted by the sun. Credit: David de Rueda

The one

As I explored the plant, I felt as though I was the first human to visit in years. Everything was untouched, with abandoned machinery creating a haunting and sci-fi-like atmosphere. When I entered one of the main machinery halls, I was captivated by its size and immediately knew the kind of image I was going to take. The light, the textures, the colours… everything was perfect at that moment. Credit: David de Rueda

Time capsule

Budapest has an important railway museum with a large collection of old trains and locomotives. Some of them haven’t been restored yet, and patiently wait to be brought back to life in a derelict warehouse in the city suburbs. This one in particular is a dream for those of us who like old machines. I felt like a child escaping reality for a few hours to walk in an imagined world of steel monsters. Credit: David de Rueda

The signal

Located on a peak in the Central Balkan Mountains, Buzludzha was the headquarters for the Bulgarian Communist Party. It was opened in 1981 after seven years of construction involving hundreds of workers, and has since fallen into disrepair, completely exposed to the elements. Shining my flashlight onto the Soviet-style concrete architecture made it look like we were under a spaceship. With my 14-24 f/2.8 wide-angle lens and D810 camera set on a long exposure, I could reveal all the details of the impressive hall plunged into darkness. Credit: David de Rueda

Don’t fall

Driving around the outskirts of Sofia, Bulgaria, I saw this astonishing construction, which may have been a former cement plant. I spent some time exploring the building, trying to “deconstruct” it with my camera. With this image, I wanted to express something impossible, like the works of Escher. Credit: David de Rueda