Abandoned

I love abandoned places. These are places that, at one time, were prosperous and full of people, and now are left to the elements to crumple. Some places were built on the rewards of mining, like Randsburg, California (Peak population 3,500) or Rhyolite on the California/Nevada border (Peak population between 3500 and 5000), and others were created from accidents. The Salton Sea was formed when Colorado River floodwater breached an irrigation canal being constructed in the Imperial Valley in 1905 and flowed into the Salton Sink. The resorts and tourism in the 50s and 60s that grew from this accident were abandoned and left to fall into ruin as agricultural runoff, urban runoff, and industrial discharges contaminated and poisoned the waters in the lake. Years ago, when I was still working as a software engineer, I would read online about the Ghost Towns of California and saw that a few were within driving distance. I would go out there and wander around and take in the sensation that thousands of people used to live in these extreme locations. It wasn't until years later when I met my wife Miriam, herself a photographer, that I actually started taking pictures and saving them. Th