A photographer captured how nature changed an abandoned church - Insider

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In the past eight years, urban explorers and photographers have been professionally known as

, Has recorded an abandoned church in Ontario, Canada. When Dave discovered the church in 2012, he used photos and

How rain and snow made the church slowly rot. 

Dave shared photos with Insider, showing how these abandoned buildings have changed over the years.  

Dave asked insiders not to use his last name. "It's a fun hobby and a fun way to express creativity, and abandoned buildings are more fun than shooting people or shooting experiences. Doing so will cause a surge in adrenaline."

Dave said that he wears a mask to prevent blackening. He will also wear gloves and steel-toed safety boots. When he returned home from the expedition, he would wash his clothes to remove mold spores, termites, fleas and ticks. 

When Dave saw the abandoned church, he had been riding a motorcycle on a remote road on a reservation in Canada. He stopped, decided to look around and enter the church through an open window.

The painting of the church is The Last Supper, with green curtains and a bronze cross still hanging on the wall behind the altar. There was a pair of glasses that might be worn by a missionary on the pulpit. The seats are neatly arranged, waiting for customers who will never return. 

Dave was surprised that no one had stolen the Bible, because it was bound in leather and it was an older book.

He said: "It stays there all the time." "Such a bible may be stolen anywhere else."

The piano was empty, and the ivory keys were covered with dirt and grime.

Dave said: "When you find an abandoned building, a lot of things happen, usually quickly by scrapbooking and graffiti artists and people who are not good at or want to steal things."

One of the reasons the church may remain as it is is its remote location, which Dave will not disclose. He said that there are not many tourists on the reservation, and the passerby where the church is located is not smooth. 

He said: "It is very secluded, and only a few people who know where it is are actually good at keeping its location secret."

Dave said: "Every time I go there, there are usually flowers on some graves." People are still visiting.

Dave said: "I realize how many natural disasters have occurred in the past three years." "At this point, I decided,'This is very interesting. I will try to come back here every year and try to record what nature does to this place. .'"

In some parts of the church, the floor has collapsed. Dave believes that the hole is caused by a person falling on the cork board. There are signs that others have been to church in the past three years. The chair and the Bible have moved their positions, but still no one has ransacked the place.

He said: "It is very interesting to strictly record Mother Nature’s behavior in not destroying buildings when destroying vandals." 

The ivory keys of the piano have been eliminated by nature.

Dave said: "If I get closer to the end of the year, then there will be different seasons throughout the season, which has a greater impact on decline." 

By 2018, huge holes were formed in the roof, exposing the wooden frame below, and the hardwood floor of the church had rotted away.  

The altar and the green curtain are in the same location as Dave discovered in 2012, but the bronze cross fell from the wall. Dave picked it up and supported it near where it was originally suspended. The piano also began to fall to the floor, like a sunken ship. 

Except for a slight fading, the paintings of Jesus and his apostles seem unaffected by decay.

The church is still a mystery. Dave, theoretically, the church was abandoned in the late 1990s. He couldn't find out who the owner was or why it closed it, but he said that if he had to guess, maybe the congregation opened a new church. There are other worship centers in the area. 

He said: "If you don't understand history, you can tell your own story." "You tell your own story. It's dangerous because I don't want to leave messages there."

Dave said: "The holes in the roof are getting more and more serious. Because of the holes in the roof, everything is happening." Whether it is raining or melting snow, water enters the interior of the church, causing the lamps and floors to rot.

Some benches and grand pianos have collapsed on the floor. The floor also began to crack in front of the altar. The part of the ceiling has been completely corroded, and the heating pipe above the altar has also been completely corroded. 

Although the Bible has never been stolen, the floods in the past eight years have not been friendly to this book. The binding loosened and the leather covering began to wear. 

Dave said: "Every year I think it will disappear next year."

Visiting the church has become a tradition for him. "I will keep going. I will keep going until it is full of rubble."

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