Argentia Military Base.

The view from inside one of the more interesting bunkers onto the outside shelter wall.

5:00pm on Sunday evening: I meet with Pete at Hava Java in downtown St. John’s. Over a couple of coffees on the outdoor chairs we decide it will be that night we head out to the Argentia Base. I strike up my old notes on the Base and we scout it out on Google Earth. All looks well, and we decide on meeting at 3:30am that morning.

3:45am Monday morning: I pick Pete up, and we head to the store to get some food and a cup of coffee. I had spent most of the night researching the history of the Military Base and didn’t sleep, so coffee was a must. By 4:30am we are on the highway and our journey begins…

5:30am Monday morning: We arrive to our destination. As we gear up and get ready, we catch the sun coming up. The fog is just burning off the water, and its shaping up to be a great day.

The runway ruins shot early in the morning. Slight fog on the hills in the background.

Pete heading towards the runway ruins. Apparently this held the guide lights for the onshore landing strip.

Pete insisted on climbing out the ruins to the first section of the guide lights for the onshore landing strip.

We wander on, down the long roads that lead around the Argentia Base.

The roads were long, and we spent a massive amount of time roaming around. Most of the bunkers were located just off access roads, and not too far into the woods

One of the first bunkers we encountered. This one took a bit of work to get inside. The doors were massive and extremely heavy. Apparently this was an ammunitions bunker.

Pete taking a snap of a blast door on one of the bunkers.

Inside one of the explosives bunkers.

Above ground bunker.

Explosives warning inside one of the bunkers.

Some sort of pump station/ power plant.

Inside some sort of pump station/ power plant.

We found a pitch black drain hole. Thought about it for a minute, grabbed our respirators and a headlight, then headed down. It was creepy, misty, and strange.

Of course, we did stop for a little break about midway through our expedition to grad a bite and a drink. At this point we had been on the go almost 6 hours.

Pete and myself taking a break at about 10am. We had been on the go for over 6 hours at this point

All in all, we did a massive amount of roaming, but it was COMPLETELY worth it. It was a great day all around.

On the drive home it was tough fighting the 38+ hours with no sleep to stay awake, I even had a 20 oz gas station coffee I was so desperate.

I believe this is the beginning of more long day trip expeditions, it’s really a blast.

- Matt

Crew Feature #2: “Pete”

Pete the Urban Explorer.

Pete

Although to this date I have only been on a few explorations with Pete, he is by far one of the most advanced peeps I have ever been on expedition with.

Pete’s love is first with urban exploring, and then photography follows. The result is a more pure photo documentation approach. He captures all the features and documents his expedition with a straight forward gritty approach.

This character is my go to guy. Whenever I have a truly difficult or dark and dirty exploration coming up, I get in contact with him. I know I can count on him to have my back. Not only that, Pete even snaps a few shots of me exploring some of the places. Photos which will be fantastic to include within my book publication to help the viewers understand my work.

You can check out Pete’s photos of the Genetics Lab we explored here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ffreshness/sets/72157620294623127/

Cheers to terrifying explorations.

Crew Feature: “Eliot Wright”

Eliot on exploration inside the Rubber Factor.

Eliot Wright

Eliot is a great friend of mine, and my mentor in the world of photography. In my early days of photography he answered many of my questions and helped me along the way with the technical questions I encountered. It was normal for him to spend hours in the chemical darkroom perfecting his black and white prints, and I was always grateful to spend some time in there with him. To this day, I still admire his pursuit of the arts.

Eliot in his home darkroom.

Eliot was my foil character on the beginnings of this entire project, and he helped push me into shooting with an end goal in mind. Even though he only accompanied me on a few expeditions, he is by far the most important person in the success of this project.

To close this entry, here is a photo from over a year and a half ago when myself and Eliot snowshoed to the top of the southside hills to shoot photos of the sunrise.

Eliot on top of the Southside Hills. January 31, 2008.

Eliot Wright, is most definitely living the photographic life.

Cheers to good times.

The Crew “Feature”

With regards to my crew:

This book would not have been possible without the help of many people.

Most of my excursions and explorations involved teaming up with others. Sometimes it was as simple as a light-hearted adventure during the morning hours, but other times it was an extremely co-ordinated nighttime infiltration with lights and flashes. Each place I visited came with it’s own set of guidelines and challenges to overcome.

The first feature will be Eliot Wright. This will probably be the longest installment of the features.

Look forward to profiles on each of my fantastic crew!

Crew Concept.

When I go out exploring, its more than just jumping in the car and heading to an unknown area. I always spend time researching the area, choosing and packing gear, and getting other explorers on board with me.

Besides just documenting the areas I go into, I think I will also be including a photo and mini biography of each person I have explored with. It will most likely be near the beginning of the book to help lay down the ideas and foundation for the photo essays that proceed.

Some, or maybe all of the biographies will be posted up here in the next few days.

That is all,

- Matt

Fort Amherst Military Base.

I have been down climbing around Fort Amherst so often I disregarded how much of a gem it really is.

I took some time last week to walk around and shoot some really moody pictures at high noon, focusing on shadows and light.

Overview of the area. The bases are nestled in the rocky shoreline and there is a small lighthouse near the top of the site.

This base was abandoned and left to rot. This is not a typical tourist site, and the actual cannons were left, rather than be replaced with toy cannons.

Inside one of the bunkers. Very dark and slightly colder than the outside environment.

A collapsed lookout on the tip of the Fort. On the left side of the frame is another collapsed lookout, and towards the top is the lighthouse and entry to the base.

This base was abandoned and left to rot. This is not a typical tourist site, and the actual cannons were left, rather than be replaced with toy cannons.

The view from inside the Fort's walls, with Signal Hill on the far left side, and a bunker door on the right.

The past few years in particular these bunkers have really taken a beating, and much of the place is finally starting to completely collapse. If you do choose to go down yourself and explore, please be careful, and enjoy the scenery!

- Matt

Genetics Lab – the Photo Essay Continues.

The final installment of photos from the Lab and Paediatrics Clinic.

Stairway in the severely burned corner of the Genetics Lab.

Some sort of machine in on of the rooms of the Genetics Lab.

Self portrait in full gear in a bathroom at the Genetics Lab.

Hand colored pictures still remained on the wall, obviously done by children.

An entrance to one of the clinics in the Paediatrics part of the Genetics Lab.

All in all, this was a really enjoyable exploration. Myself and Pete are on the same page with exploring, and it couldn’t have gone much better!

- Matt

Genetics Lab – the Photo Essay Continues!

I have processed some more of the photos from the Genetics Lab.

This is definitly some of my most gritty work. Everything was shot at night with strobes and a headlamp. The result is some really moody and grainy photographs. Hope you enjoy!

One of the hallways in the Paediatrics Clinic part of the Genetics Lab.

One of the bathrooms in the Paediatrics Clinic part of the Genetics Lab.

A bathtub in the Paediatrics Clinic part of the Genetics Lab.

Peeling paint in one of the rooms. This particular section was more damaged than some of the other parts.

Another, more damaged bathroom in the Paediatrics Clinic part of the Genetics Lab.

Bio-hazard suits and a tipped over radiator in the Genetics Lab.

Thanks to those who have left comments, and those who have been following my work! It means a lot.

- Matt

Genetics Lab – 2nd Attempt.

Here we go, the rain has let up and myself and Pete are going to try and get in tonight…

Success! We got inside.

This place was massive, and possibly one of the most terrifing places I have been in to date. It didn’t really help that all we had was one headlamp to light the creepy hallways and countless number of rooms…

Here are a few snaps from inside that I’ll upload for tonight:

Pete inside the Genetics Lab, wearing his respirator.

A 2nd floor room, showing one of the only tags inside the building.

And two Pete snapped of me wandering through the hallways all geared up:

Me inside the Genetics Lab, wandering the halls.

Me checking out one of the strange bathrooms.

That is all for now, hope you enjoy.

-Matt

Genetics Lab.

UPDATE:
Heavy rain kept us from attemping this expedition. We will be trying again VERY soon!

Don’t want to give out a lot of details yet, but myself Pete and Dave are going to try and get into the Old Genetics Lab tonight.

Details in the morning.  Here is the teaser shot (which was taken last October):

"Janeway Genetics Lab."