Beautiful, haunting photographs of abandoned places in Belgium. The ultimate visual reference in Belgian urban exploration.
These outstanding photographic reports aim to draw attention to the often dramatic fate of a countrys abandoned heritage and its frequently forgotten beauty. The locations featured all have their own stories to tell, in a variety of voices, but with one
shared theme: the fall from grace.
The old blast furnaces from the province of Liege, an old textile factory in West Flanders, or Europes first commodities exchange - a Gothic Revival gem in the province of Antwerp ...
These architectural monuments have been left to weather the elements and pass into oblivion, offering a unique perspective on abandoned Belgium. At the threshold between life and death, and immortalised by Francis Meslet, these structures radiate a silence that speaks volumes. These pictures have extraordinary secrets to tell. Between 2010 and 2023, Francis Meslet travelled around Belgium looking for abandoned places - witnesses to history and the socio-economic changes that have shaped the country. What began as a way of documenting the neglect of industrial and urban monuments, quickly expanded to include other dispossessed places: factories, industrial wastelands, schools, churches, Roman baths,
swimming pools, theatres, mansions, castles, and hospitals, for example. His photography captures the grandeur and decadence of one of the oldest European nations.
