Urban exploration, sometimes referred to as abandonment exploration, is trespassing on abandoned properties to capture the architecture and beauty of decay on film.
The explorers become anthropologists. Their photos a historical record.
Each one, not only depicting what was once important to society, but also the mindset of the current generation.
All of the photos in this post are copyright of Underground Ozarks , a site I first explored in 2006. The site, like the places it chronicles, has now been abandoned.
For a breathtaking set of abandoned and decaying culture check statlerhotel's The Stonecutters on Flickr.