version = 0 galurl = "index.html" reverseindex = 0 var imageurls = new Array( "waylonart_industrial_001.jpg", // 0 "waylonart_industrial_002.jpg", // 1 "waylonart_industrial_003.jpg", // 2 "waylonart_industrial_004.jpg", // 3 "waylonart_industrial_005.jpg", // 4 "waylonart_industrial_006.jpg", // 5 "waylonart_industrial_007.jpg", // 6 "waylonart_industrial_008.jpg", // 7 "waylonart_industrial_009.jpg", // 8 "waylonart_industrial_010.jpg", // 9 "waylonart_industrial_011.jpg", // 10 "waylonart_industrial_012.jpg", // 11 "waylonart_industrial_013.jpg", // 12 "waylonart_industrial_014.jpg", // 13 "waylonart_industrial_015.jpg", // 14 "waylonart_industrial_016.jpg", // 15 "waylonart_industrial_017.jpg", // 16 "waylonart_industrial_018.jpg", // 17 "waylonart_industrial_019.jpg", // 18 "waylonart_industrial_020.jpg", // 19 "waylonart_industrial_021.jpg", // 20 "waylonart_industrial_022.jpg", // 21 "waylonart_industrial_023.jpg", // 22 "waylonart_industrial_024.jpg", // 23 "waylonart_industrial_025.jpg", // 24 "waylonart_industrial_026.jpg", // 25 "waylonart_industrial_027.jpg", // 26 "waylonart_industrial_028.jpg", // 27 "waylonart_industrial_029.jpg", // 28 "waylonart_industrial_030.jpg", // 29 "waylonart_industrial_031.jpg", // 30 "waylonart_industrial_032.jpg", // 31 "waylonart_industrial_033.jpg", // 32 "waylonart_industrial_034.jpg", // 33 "waylonart_industrial_035.jpg", // 34 "waylonart_industrial_036.jpg", // 35 "waylonart_industrial_037.jpg", // 36 "waylonart_industrial_038.jpg"); var imagedesc = new Array( "On the south side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, there's an abandoned industrial complex, fenced off with razor wire. The buildings inside are all red or cream colored brick, each harboring its own unique collection of furnaces, forges, mills, pipes, chimneys, catwalks, and a variety of lumbering unidentifiable steel machines. Coal litters the ground everywhere, but is most concentrated near the bases of the stilted conveyor belts, housed in corrugated steel panels, that rise up into the sky.

Many buildings have already been torn down, as evidenced by the numerous piles of rubble and bricks, open foundations, and by the fact that the currently standing buildings only occupy about a quarter of the total fenced-off area.

I know very little of the history of this industrial complex. I don't know what they made, save that whatever it was required a lot of coal. I've only found one really solid clue in all of my visits, and it's a pretty important one. On the floor of what was probably a manager's office was a rotting phone book. The year printed on the front was 1984, which meant this place has been shut down now for almost twenty years. It's interesting to see exactly how fast man-made structures fall apart when neglected.

My first visit to the compound was on April 5, 2000. I took five pictures, all of which turned out terrible. Since then I've returned a number of times, and my photos have improved with each successive visit. We'll begin with my third excursion, later that year... ", // 0 "October 12, 2000 -
This was the first time any of my pictures turned out remotely good. (At least, by the standards I hold myself to today.) I borrowed my boss's digicam, and headed out early Sunday morning. I figured a Sunday is the day when I'll be least likely to bump into any construction workers, and to date, that philosophy has held true. ", // 1 "", // 2 "December 13, 2000 -
I went back in December of the same year, during a big snowstorm. I caught a cold that kept me in bed for a week, but the trip was well worth it. I was also getting a bit more courageous - not only did I enter a few of the buildings, I climbed a rickety series of catwalks to get a better view, as you can see in the third photo. ", // 3 "", // 4 "", // 5 "", // 6 "", // 7 "", // 8 "", // 9 "April 12, 2001 -
The next spring I got my own camera, a Canon Powershot G1. My first real test of my new toy was a trip back to the compound. This was also the first time I brought along a friend. I figured, not only will it make the trip more fun, but if I fell through a floor or into an open pit, my chances of escaping would be greatly improved. ", // 10 "", // 11 "", // 12 "", // 13 "", // 14 "", // 15 "", // 16 "", // 17 "", // 18 "June 17, 2001 -
I came back two months later. I wasn't actually planning on entering the compound that day. I started out taking photographs of warehouses in the surrounding neighborhoods, but I wasn't finding as many interesting shots as I had hoped. So I figured I'd shoot some familiar subject matter.

As you can see, by this point I had lost pretty much all of my inhibitions against entering buildings and climbing to places where I probably shouldn't climb. ", // 19 "", // 20 "", // 21 "", // 22 "", // 23 "", // 24 "", // 25 "", // 26 "", // 27 "", // 28 "", // 29 "", // 30 "", // 31 "November 19, 2001 -
I was out for a walk with my dad and sister in my dad's old neighborhood, conveniently close to the old industrial complex. Not a coincidence - he was the one who originally showed me the place. By the time our walk had brought us there it was dusk, so I just snapped a few shots over the razor-wire fence that surrounds the compound. The first picture is of a torn-down warehouse about a quarter mile away. ", // 32 "", // 33 "", // 34 "", // 35 "", // 36 "");