Urban Exploration Trend Hits Milwaukee

Moss crawls up the decaying walls to reach cracks of light through the broken windows. Shadows accompany a silence that yearns to be broken. Tools, notepads and remnants of a factory blanket the floor where feet once did… a different side of Milwaukee than most people see.

Milwaukee resident and photographer Jackie Nytes stumbled upon the abandoned building while looking for places to urban explore.

“Each place is falling apart. And now you’re there and you care about it. And you make it into art,” Nytes said.

A recent wave of photography has artists searching for the right shot in unusual places: abandoned structures. These urban exploring photographers are finding beauty in the decay of uninhibited structures like amusement parks, grain elevators, factories, missile silos, fallout shelters and hospitals.

“It’s freeing. Being in this place that has no rules, I mean — there isn’t no rules — you’re not supposed to be there, that’s rule number one,” Nytes said.

The areas are often restricted, which explains why many urban explorers live by the motto: “Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints.” Alarms and police are a part of the thrill in the experience, but according to Nytes, the true adventure is inside the abandonment.

“It’s like solving a mystery. Every building has a story behind it to why it was abandoned. Sometimes there’s pictures or a news article and you can figure it out or you just can make it up.”

Nytes also finds relaxation in the stillness of time while exploring.

“Everyone is so obsessed with being in the now and always busy and always ‘go’. Look at New York City, it’s always up and running,” Nytes said. “One of my friends told me one time that sometimes it’s just nice to be forgotten about. Just for a little bit.”

Nytes first visited an abandoned farmhouse in 2010, near her Hartford childhood home while looking for photo locations. That day changed her life.

“I felt something I had never felt before,” Nytes said. “You get to see a whole different side of society.”

Nytes was urban exploring for about three years before realizing she wasn’t alone. After joining Instagram in 2013, she was surprised to find a community of fellow urban explorers. Using hash tags like “#AbandonedMKE” and “#UrbanExploreMKE” helps Nytes to connect with the community right here in Milwaukee.

Nytes travels to different states for what she calls “Instagram meet-ups” to gather with fellow urban explorers’ and find abandoned structures. She has traveled to Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri and plans to take on Michigan next.

“People will direct message me from all over the U.S. to meet up, even some from Pakistan,” said Nytes.

In addition to the Instagram community, www.urbanexplorers.net invites artists to share their experiences and abandoned locations. For beginners, Google provides the “How-to.”