Mr. P. Explores

02/18/2025

A return to a once glorious and now completely burnt-out auditorium inside an abandoned Gary, Indiana high school. Despite the horrendous damage that was done here in 2017, there is still beauty to be found in the ruins here if one stops to look for it. The smell of fire is long gone, and the scorched metal of the rows of chairs now has a thickening layer of rust upon it, and the piano on stage will never play again, but there are still stories left behind in these scenes. Enjoy the set, stay warm and have a great day out there! -Mr. P.

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02/18/2025

A new story up at the Mr. Explores Substack, featuring an explore of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's truly spectacular industrial wonder, the Richmond Generating Station, undertaken last winter. Drop by, have a read, check out some photos, and subscribe if the mood so strikes you! Enjoy! -Mr. P.

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https://open.substack.com/pub/mrpexplores/p/palace-of-rust-philadelphias-richmond?r=504x6k&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Sometimes you make plans to go someplace only to discover that a possibly once in a lifetime opportunity has opened up, and that you might only have a short window of time to take advantage of it.

02/17/2025

It's always interesting to document how a place changes and mutates over time. This spot, an old water department service garage in Detroit, Michigan, is a place I've been returning to since we first explored it in 2018, and it's gone through so many shifts over the years. For awhile, it seemed the place was going to be reconditioned and reused (and may still, given time), but as of 2025, its still a place where new graffiti shows up, puddles provide amazing reflections and the long hallways and wide chambers give us some interesting angles. Enjoy this latest set from this ever-changing place and have a good kick off to your week! -Mr. P.

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02/16/2025

On a quick shoot today, I decided to head down to an area that I've been to a million times but which I've never documented with my camera before. Wandering down into the Cleveland Flats along the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, I wanted to shoot the area underneath the East Bank portion of the Shoreway Bridge that connects both sides of the river. The old brick of Main Avenue, the cobalt blue girders of the bridge and the gleaming wet sheen over the street there made it the perfect day to head down into this somewhat shadowy and gritty area. One of those seldom thought of spots in Cleveland that people ever travel to when it comes to urban photography; it sort of popped into my brain this morning when I was getting ready to go, and so...here are the shots from this excellent vantage point! Enjoy and have a wonderful Sunday! -Mr. P.

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02/15/2025

A look back at an explore taken of an abandoned materials stamping facility in Detroit, Michigan. Patterns for stamping items into plastics and metals were to be found here in large quantities, which made for some interesting shots. This place also had my favorite flooring intact; creosote-soaked wood block floors, which also always make for an extra textured capture. Enjoy the spread and have a great Saturday out there! -Mr. P.

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02/14/2025

A look back at an explore in Detroit, Michigan that took place in the early spring of 2022, from top to bottom, of an abandoned "stag hotel" that once supposedly temporarily housed Jack Kerouac in the far past. It later became assisted living before becoming derelict and is at the current time sealed fast. The light that morning made for interesting colors on the rust, and the shots into the core of the building were some of the most fun to shoot. Enjoy the view and have a great finish to your week out there, wherever you might happen to be! -Mr. P.

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02/13/2025

Inside the rusting innards of a power plant that once ran an entire psychiatric hospital facility on Long Island, New York. Now rusted beyond belief, this place once generated electricity for a massive complex, much of which no longer exists. Taken in the summer of 2019, and taken on my old Nikon D300, long before I had any clue about what I was doing. Enjoy the rusty glory of this place and have a great Thursday out there! -Mr. P.

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02/12/2025

More scenes from inside an abandoned Gary, Indiana high school; once the crown jewel of Gary's public school system, this massive school is now shredded, scrapped and vandalized beyond anything its original builders would ever have imagined when it first opened...-Mr. P.

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02/11/2025

The continued tour of a massive industrial site in Gary, Indiana. At one point, after it closed as a factory, this place was used to collect clothing for redistribution and recycling, but the deal went shady, taxes went unpaid, and the clothing piles have rotted away on the spot over the last few decades. Hence the massive piles of decomposing shirts, pants and assorted unmentionables. Lots of textures and colors at this spot at just this moment, as well as some close up icicle shots! Enjoy the set and have a wonderful Tuesday out there! -Mr. P.

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02/10/2025

The only remnant of the once popular Peter Pan Donuts and Restaurant in East Cleveland, Ohio; it was closed and abandoned long ago, and in the last several years, even the sign has been removed, sent to location unknown. All that remains of this popular eatery is an empty lot on Euclid Avenue. A look back at happier times in East Cleveland... -Mr. P.

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02/09/2025

A very not-well-taken-care-of mausoleum at what might well have a been a mostly forgotten cemetery in rural Pennsylvania. While it looked like perhaps the county might have done some rudimentary clean up around the place, this sad little tomb was as bad off as one could get; falling apart and disheveled in ways I had never seen a mausoleum be. I can only hope that someone takes better care of it in the future, for the respect of those that were interred there. Oddly, there was one candle lit on the back windowsill when we arrived. Who had lit it was a mystery, and it lent a very sad and rather ominous tone to it all. We got our photos and left quickly... -Mr. P.

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02/08/2025

The ravaged gymnasium of an abandoned high school in Gary, Indiana. Where once throngs of students and parents came to watch basketball games on a Friday night, now only destruction reigns. Hard to believe this was once a brightly lit, well-kept and proudly introduced basketball court at one point in decades past. Enjoy the set and have a great Saturday out there, all! -Mr. P.

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02/07/2025

Some golden hour catches around and within the always-impressive hulk of this abandoned factory near Gary, Indiana. The sun here in the late afternoon always makes every color and hue all that more beautiful, and the light and shadows become sublime. This is only a small portion of what was captured here, but I'll make sure I post the rest of them as time goes on. Never a bad way to end the day while in Gary, and even better when you can introduce this old beauty to friends who have never encountered her before. Enjoy the view and have a great close-out to your week! -Mr. P.

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02/06/2025

A brief revisit to Gary, Indiana's crumbling and not-long-for-this-world Palace Theater on a recent trip back to the Magic City. While we were inside shooting, we noticed that more plaster was rapidly falling from the ceiling as we were there; something that had never happened at this frequency on any other visit, even in high winds. This leads me to believe that things are not well with the structure, and that at some point soon, she may do herself off. Hopefully not. In any case, enjoy the spread and have a wonderful Thursday out there! -Mr. P.

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02/05/2025

Many times, when I travel out of state, I find it to be an interesting exercise to take a look around the city that I wind up in to document some of the gritty and off-the-beaten-path locations that few ever bother to see. Recently, on a trip to Gary, Indiana, we were drawn to a long overpass that divided the eastern section of the city from the steel mills to the north. Above our heads was the span of Interstate 90, Chicago bound to the west and the eastern direction pointed at the rural expanses of Indiana. The curves, geometry, lines, light and shadow underneath and around the bridge provided so many interesting shots to capture, and we wound up spending an hour or so wandering around underneath it and around the rail lines that rain adjacent to it. Enjoy the resulting photos and have a great Wednesday out there! -Mr. P.

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02/04/2025

A recent explore of what remains of a once productive and well-known newspaper in the middle of a Rust Belt city. We had a very short window to get any shots from this place, and there was much more to see here, but we were running low on time so a return trip is definitely in the offing. Enjoy the few shots of this intriguing spot, and have a great Tuesday out there! -Mr. P.

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02/04/2025

The latest article on the Mr. P. Substack; all about Detroit, Michigan's famous (or infamous?) abandoned automobile plant, the incomparable FISHER BODY PLANT #21! History, photos and tales told; drop by and have a read, and subscribe if the mood strikes you! I appreciate all of the support on this new project! -Mr. P.

A Detroit Classic: Abandoned, explored, loved and now with a new lease on life...