Film & Urbex – A Promising Duo

So, lately I have been doing a lot of urban exploration (urbex), which is a hobby that dates back to my childhood. I grew up in a beautiful suburb of Athens (Greece), which used to be a hub for hospitals back in the 40s 50s due to the surrounding rich nature. It was supposed to be the optimal location for hospitals specializing in tuberculosis due to the fresh air and peaceful environment. With the discovery of penicillin and the urbanization of the area, these hospitals were shut down and left behind. Today, the nature has overgrown these massive concrete building giving them an apocalyptic aesthetic.

Growing up next to these abandoned hospitals, I soon became curious to explore these concrete structures and enjoy the astonishing view from their 6^th floor terrasses and the rooftops. At the same time, at a very young age (16), stunned by the aesthetics of abandonedness, wild nature and remoteness, I started framing this into black and white photography (digital). The result was surprisingly very nice and I started experimenting more!

Today, I continue doing this hobby in Belgium, where I currently live. Lucky for me, there are multiple abandoned locations due to the country’s industrial past. From abandoned factories and farms to whole neighbourhoods.

Recently, in a trip to Georgia I entered the world of film photography where I became obsessed with the wonderful vintage aesthetics that can be achieved while exploring remote urban sites. Film simply highlights aspects that digital cannot do. Travelling through the remote and timeless landscapes of Georgia I used film photography to capture this with the results being stunning (check previous post).

Therefore, I decided to integrate film to this hobby of mine and the result surprised me. Throughout March 2026, I visited several abandoned locations and played around a bit. I decided to buy a funky film and capture the apocalyptical vibes of these places. I bought the HARMAN RED 125 35mm for my Canon AE-1 and hit the streets!

First stop, Charleroi. A semi-abandoned industrial city that used to be a mining hub back in the days. Today, a video-game like setting that reminds apocalypse. Part of the town is full of old abandoned factories that stand still and are overgrown by nature. Destroyed train tracks, rotten signs, tunnels and much more. The feeling you get when you arrive is unique; a fascinating sight for an urban explorer like me.

Together with my fellow explorer Marti we couldn’t stop running into old factories, warehouses and huge brick towers. The highlight of the day? The massive coal mining factory with its unique structure that looked alien. Almost like a zombie movie or a setting of The Last of Us. With the river passing and the sounds of the last open standing factory, it feels surreal. As if time has stopped, or as if the end of the world would be approaching. The day was unique toο. Very strong sun and foggy atmosphere!

(At this point, I want to add that my camera has a light leak that alters the results. As you can see, there is a shinny vertical line on the left side of most of the photos. I find this a double-edged sword, because indeed several photos might have lost their fullest potential, but on the other hand some photos might benefit from it. This shows the uniqueness of film aesthetics for once more and the beauty of abstract photography. Nevertheless, I am currently reapairig that issue)

My urbex adventures continued in Berlin, at an abandoned Stasi (German Secret police) training camp. Deep within the forests of suburban Berlin lies this crazy complex of abandoned buildings. Knowing the dark history of this place, with old Nazi generals visiting and jews being imprisoned the feelings were mixed. The lake and the recently renovated castle enhance the absurdity of this place. At this place I played around with both Harrman Red and a black and white film roll, namely Illford HP5 400 plus. I find the contrasting of black and white in urbex a unique style that gives a spooky & original sense to the place.

Overall, the main point I am trying to make is that analogue photography offers such a unique character that is so perfectly matched with urban exploration. The timeless, abandoned aspect of what we explore and the vintage, blurry and original aesthetics of film merged together offer a new dimension on urbex photography. This helps highlight the uniqueness of this hobby more accurately. Having such a wide range of film rolls and other parameters, I’m very excited to further experiment in this field and encourage people to do so too. I’m always happy to share stuff about my community and discuss urbex aesthetics! You can check out my page for more urbex photography.

Alex Efthimiou

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