I record what's disappearing.
abandoned.blog is a one-person documentary project: an independent research notebook, a history archive, and a quiet argument for looking after the places we've left behind.
Marek Halden
I'm a photographer and researcher researching and documenting abandoned places since 2019. I've researched and documented more than fifty-three sites across sixteen countries — from historic châteaux and industrial ruins to former hospitals, villages, and transport sites.
This archive exists to record what is being lost: the architecture, the history, and the human stories behind the walls. I work legally, I leave every place as I found it, and I never publish anything that encourages trespassing.
Every entry is researched from primary and secondary sources, dated, and written in my own words. Original photography is used where available; when an entry uses third-party archival or Wikimedia imagery, the source and licence are credited. When I get something wrong, I correct it and say so.
A short history of the archive
The first château
A wrong turn in the Loire valley, a gap in a hedge, and a building I couldn't stop thinking about. I started keeping notes.
The archive goes public
Notes became entries. I began writing the history properly — dates, names, sources — instead of just posting photographs.
A Europe-first focus
I stopped chasing the famous sites and started covering the ones with no English-language record at all.
Fifty-three entries and counting
The archive now covers sixteen countries and ten categories, with new entries added as research is completed.
Four rules I don't break
Legally
I only visit and photograph places where access is lawful or permitted. No entry instructions, ever.
Leave no trace
I take nothing and move nothing. Every place is left exactly as I found it.
Research first
Dates, names and facts are checked against sources. I correct errors publicly.
Respect people
These are places where real lives happened. I write about them with care, not for shock value.