Naturalia: Reclaimed by nature

In March 2018, the French photographer Jonathan ‘Jonk’ Jimenez published a new book ‘Naturalia: Reclaimed by nature’, a presentation of photographs depicting nature taking back abandoned places.

Having spent many years photographing graffiti and street art culture, embarking on urban exploration in Parisian abandoned buildings, and documenting the strange Eastern European monuments known as ‘spomeniks’, Jonk has returned to what he believes to be the strongest, most original element in the vast subject of abandonment:

‘Nature taking back. It’s poetic, even magic, to see nature retaking what used to be hers’, reintegrating through broken windows, cracks on the walls, spaces built by man and then neglected, until sometimes guzzling them entirely.’

To acquire a copy of the book and to find out more, see www.jonk-photography.com

Greenhouse, Belgium

Castle, Montenegro

Silo, Undisclosed location

Castle, Croatia

Palace, Poland

Hotel, Croatia

Chapel, France

Hospital, Italy

Castle, France

Warehouse, France

To see more of Jonk’s work, see Spomeniks.

All photographs copyright Jonk.

--Michael Brooks

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

• Abandoned movie theatres in Russia.
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• How to commission architectural photography.
• Landscape urbanism.
• Photographing buildings.
• Spomeniks.
• Urban decay.
• White elephant.