What's it like to wander through abandoned chateaus, chapels, and cathedrals of Europe and marvel at their dusty opulence? Now, you don't have to imagine—Sven Fennema’s photography provides a full virtual experience through 360° panoramic images.Lost Places is a photo project that spans 17 beautiful and forgotten locations throughout Europe. From chapels in Poland, to ballrooms in Germany, to cemeteries and casinos in Italy, these images transport the viewer to a magical world of neglected spaces. Fennema, a self-taught photographer based out of Düsseldorf, began taking photos in 2007 and has since produced two photo books and has been featured in multiple exhibitions across Europe. On his website, he briefly explains that the technical process in constructing these 360° photos involves first taking several images of the full peripheral perspective of a room, and then assembling the individual images using an aggregator. The result is an image that covers 360° horizontally, and 180° vertically.
Advertisement
In an interview with C-Heads, Fennema offers up his methods for finding locations to photograph, "There are different ways of finding, most of it is searching through the internet for specific stuff, old pictures, newspaper articles and satellite maps. As I search in different countries I work a lot with translators, finally it’s on to check the places you probably found. Until a tour is complete it takes quite some time, and then you need a bit of luck that what you find is still a beauty to see and also you need to be lucky that the door is open.”
Lost Places captures the sustained elegance of ignored spaces in a way that makes them dizzying and all-encompassing, almost as if they were pulled from geometry fairytales. On his website, Fennema dubs his work, “atmospheric photo art” and “living pictures.” In his C-Heads interview, he states, “For me these places are amazing and special, though they are left abandoned and lifeless, often since decades. Every place has a lot of history carrying in it’s walls, it has a special mood and story to tell. For me all this together, with the very individual way of decay, is a pure beauty I like to catch.”
ONE EMAIL. ONE STORY. EVERY WEEK. SIGN UP FOR THE VICE NEWSLETTER.
By signing up, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy & to receive electronic communications from Vice Media Group, which may include marketing promotions, advertisements and sponsored content.
