Is this who we are...??? 
Extreme Photography: Urban Exploration
by Jonathan Haeber
If you look at online photo forums, you'll find photographers skilled in deep-sea diving, rappelling, cave exploration, or municipal tunneling. Many extreme photographers begin by stumbling upon an abandoned building, steam tunnel, or closed missile silo. After that experience, they're hooked, much like photographer Steve Duncan.
Steve Duncan--fringe photo-man in Manhattan
Steve Duncan is a Brooklyn-based photographer and former host of Discovery Channel's Urban Explorers. Duncan, who specializes in photographing the fringes of the built environment, remembers his first time in an underground utility tunnel beneath Columbia University, where he was studying urban history.
"At the time I was so excited. I thought it was astounding to find these places and I wanted to capture it." Duncan recalls, "Eventually I got a 35 mm camera.... I had that camera until I dropped it off of a rooftop."
In 1996, around the same time Duncan was exploring Columbia University's utility tunnels, a community was forming known as "Urban Exploration" (dictionaries have yet to list the phrase). The moniker would eventually catch on around the world. Today, intrepid explorers in some urban exploration forums boast over 10,000 members.
A community of capturers
The urban exploration community has an eclectic following including: academics, journalists, art students, and architecture buffs. The core focus of these communities is on documenting abandoned and neglected sites, especially places that are off-limits or too dangerous for the public. Most are keen photographers, who are adept in long exposures, night photography, and various lighting conditions.
Urban explorers often photograph these places without permission, but many believe it's worth the risk if it helps people better understand local or architectural history. "People who don't know the history of a city also are going to be blind about what's going on around them," says Duncan. And despite the relative vacancy and abandonment of many sites, Duncan asserts that each place "has a personality; each is a living, breathing thing, and most people only see a tiny fraction of it."
"Our culture is as fleeting and ephemeral as the road itself," says photographer Troy Paiva, who focuses on photographing roadside architecture. Paiva's Lost America Web site has over 15,000 visitors every month. His book of the same title, published in 2003, has also been well received.
"The [urban exploration] culture online is huge. It's everywhere now." Paiva attributes the widespread interest in such "fringe" photography partly to the mystique and danger of such places. "We want what we can't have. It's human nature. The cool places are always off-limits."
The San Francisco Bay Area resident has been chased off by shotgun-wielding landowners and has since backed off from taking unnecessary risks. "I still do guerilla a lot," he says, but also notes that it's much easier to have approval. That said, a large portion of fringe photographers still go "stealth," meaning that they hop fences or trespass to get that perfect photograph. Many are arrested on a regular basis.
A changing culture
Since September 11, the sites that Duncan and Paiva would normally photograph have become closely monitored. Duncan has been spotted, more than once, by police. Once, he was apprehended by the FBI on top of a steeple in Manhattan. "Somebody thought I was a terrorist with a rifle because I had a telephoto lens on my tripod," he recalls.
On the other hand, many sites are still very much open to photographers. Some explorers travel to other countries with friendly trespassing laws. Canada's trespassing policy is relatively lax. Scotland doesn't have one. Duncan has his eyes set on Paris. "There is anywhere from 170-500 miles of catacombs under Paris. That sort of underground network I love."
Becoming an extreme photographer
If you're interested in becoming a fringe photographer, a few photography classes--or even a photography degree--will go a long way. Paiva's career as a photographer began with a night photography class that he took in San Francisco. His particular style eventually earned him a contract for his Lost America book. Duncan recommends purchasing a good digital single-lens-reflex (SLR) camera--he thinks the Nikon D70 is a good starter camera. Having a good eye for a picture can't be trained, but the education and equipment can go a long way in developing a photography career.
While a career based solely on extreme photography is possible, most photographers rely on a wide variety of income sources. "Be prepared to work commercially for corporate clients," says Paiva. Currently, there are 129,000 professional photographers in the United States, and half are self-employed. Portrait photographers, photojournalists, and commercial photographers are some of the more regular photography jobs, but if you enjoy a little bit of danger, you can dare to make "fringe" photography your occupation and capture photos of the forgotten and off-limits.
Jonathan Haeber is a writer and photographer living in the Bay Area.
Extreme Photography: Urban Exploration
by Jonathan Haeber
If you look at online photo forums, you'll find photographers skilled in deep-sea diving, rappelling, cave exploration, or municipal tunneling. Many extreme photographers begin by stumbling upon an abandoned building, steam tunnel, or closed missile silo. After that experience, they're hooked, much like photographer Steve Duncan.
Steve Duncan--fringe photo-man in Manhattan
Steve Duncan is a Brooklyn-based photographer and former host of Discovery Channel's Urban Explorers. Duncan, who specializes in photographing the fringes of the built environment, remembers his first time in an underground utility tunnel beneath Columbia University, where he was studying urban history.
"At the time I was so excited. I thought it was astounding to find these places and I wanted to capture it." Duncan recalls, "Eventually I got a 35 mm camera.... I had that camera until I dropped it off of a rooftop."
In 1996, around the same time Duncan was exploring Columbia University's utility tunnels, a community was forming known as "Urban Exploration" (dictionaries have yet to list the phrase). The moniker would eventually catch on around the world. Today, intrepid explorers in some urban exploration forums boast over 10,000 members.
A community of capturers
The urban exploration community has an eclectic following including: academics, journalists, art students, and architecture buffs. The core focus of these communities is on documenting abandoned and neglected sites, especially places that are off-limits or too dangerous for the public. Most are keen photographers, who are adept in long exposures, night photography, and various lighting conditions.
Urban explorers often photograph these places without permission, but many believe it's worth the risk if it helps people better understand local or architectural history. "People who don't know the history of a city also are going to be blind about what's going on around them," says Duncan. And despite the relative vacancy and abandonment of many sites, Duncan asserts that each place "has a personality; each is a living, breathing thing, and most people only see a tiny fraction of it."
"Our culture is as fleeting and ephemeral as the road itself," says photographer Troy Paiva, who focuses on photographing roadside architecture. Paiva's Lost America Web site has over 15,000 visitors every month. His book of the same title, published in 2003, has also been well received.
"The [urban exploration] culture online is huge. It's everywhere now." Paiva attributes the widespread interest in such "fringe" photography partly to the mystique and danger of such places. "We want what we can't have. It's human nature. The cool places are always off-limits."
The San Francisco Bay Area resident has been chased off by shotgun-wielding landowners and has since backed off from taking unnecessary risks. "I still do guerilla a lot," he says, but also notes that it's much easier to have approval. That said, a large portion of fringe photographers still go "stealth," meaning that they hop fences or trespass to get that perfect photograph. Many are arrested on a regular basis.
A changing culture
Since September 11, the sites that Duncan and Paiva would normally photograph have become closely monitored. Duncan has been spotted, more than once, by police. Once, he was apprehended by the FBI on top of a steeple in Manhattan. "Somebody thought I was a terrorist with a rifle because I had a telephoto lens on my tripod," he recalls.
On the other hand, many sites are still very much open to photographers. Some explorers travel to other countries with friendly trespassing laws. Canada's trespassing policy is relatively lax. Scotland doesn't have one. Duncan has his eyes set on Paris. "There is anywhere from 170-500 miles of catacombs under Paris. That sort of underground network I love."
Becoming an extreme photographer
If you're interested in becoming a fringe photographer, a few photography classes--or even a photography degree--will go a long way. Paiva's career as a photographer began with a night photography class that he took in San Francisco. His particular style eventually earned him a contract for his Lost America book. Duncan recommends purchasing a good digital single-lens-reflex (SLR) camera--he thinks the Nikon D70 is a good starter camera. Having a good eye for a picture can't be trained, but the education and equipment can go a long way in developing a photography career.
While a career based solely on extreme photography is possible, most photographers rely on a wide variety of income sources. "Be prepared to work commercially for corporate clients," says Paiva. Currently, there are 129,000 professional photographers in the United States, and half are self-employed. Portrait photographers, photojournalists, and commercial photographers are some of the more regular photography jobs, but if you enjoy a little bit of danger, you can dare to make "fringe" photography your occupation and capture photos of the forgotten and off-limits.
Jonathan Haeber is a writer and photographer living in the Bay Area.
