Abandoned American | A Conversation with Our Ruins

Every so often you discover a new blog that you instantly feel connected too. I still get that same buzz now, as I did back even before I had a blog myself. The buzz is usually followed with, "Oh nice!", which generally means I'm your new biggest fan. I've never been the most expressive...

Our Ruins definitely falls into that category, and from what I've seen on their comments section, a lot of people agree with me. Put simply, Our Ruins is a blog about abandoned and derelict places in America. They're a team of two, based in Texas, but will travel anywhere to seek out those unique - and usually once thriving - subjects, ready to document their finding before they're totally erased.

I had the pleasure of chatting to Valerie of Our Ruins, to get a better understanding of their love of abandoned spaces, why they do it and where the thrill comes from:

Where did your interest in abandoned places and spaces come from?

Our interest in abandoned places came from our frequent road trips around Texas. We are hikers, so we tend to drive through rural places on our way to hiking destinations where we noticed these abandoned homes and businesses along the side of the road. We know that a lot of people see them, but they are simply just places that are passed by. We wanted to shine a spotlight on them before they disappear because we believe they represent an unknown or forgotten history.  They are essentially, in our minds, relics of our society that tell a story through their decay and abandonment.

How is it working as a duo, do you both have similar tastes and look to seek the same things?

We work really well together because we see the abandoned places from different perspectives which means our end product includes a more comprehensive set of photographs for each place. Though sometimes we have to work on our camera sharing skills…we really do need two cameras.

How do you find out about abandoned places and where do you wish to document next?

We typically find abandoned places by deciding on what part of the state we want to go to. Then we research online any abandoned places or ghost towns around that area. We start driving in that direction, not always reaching our destination because we find so much on the way there and/or we run out of light. Basically, we make sure to visit small towns and avoid major roads. We are never really sure where we will find the next abandoned place, but that’s a large part of the adventure and the appeal of exploring abandonments.

In terms of where we will go next, we would like to go further west in the U.S. as I used to live out in Las Vegas, Nevada…and I remember seeing quite a few abandoned places amongst the beautiful desert landscape. Also Jon is Canadian, and so we plan on documenting the abandoned places in the western provinces where he used to live. Though we will always continue to drive and explore Texas as it’s a large state with plenty of places to explore.

We're all looking forward to seeing what they discover next. Explore more of Our Ruins here. Further Urban Exploration here, here + here.

Find us on - Twitter | Facebook | Bloglovin' | Instagram | Pinterest