Photographer Jan Stel – ‘Abandoned and Forgotten’

15 years in the making, Jan Stel’s ‘Abandoned and Forgotten’ series of photographs has seen him visit the likes of old animal testing labs, steel works, subway tunnels and textile factories.

The talented photographer, from Purmerend, Netherlands, came up with the idea for his series in 1998, when his interests in past glories was initially piqued by the remains of industrial structures.

Since then Jan has travelled to Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, and many other countries across the continent in pursuit of the beautiful pictures you see here.

In a recent interview with The Mail, Jan said:

Abandoned locations have something magical: a hidden world left by men, but still full of life and history. It is also about Mother Earth taking back what once belonged to her and over the years transforming a location more and more.

Photographer Jan Stel - 'Abandoned and Forgotten' 1
Old files at a crumbling textiles factory in Spain 
Photographer Jan Stel - 'Abandoned and Forgotten' 2
Animal remains in jars
Photographer Jan Stel - 'Abandoned and Forgotten' 14
The remains of work at a chemical lab in Belgium
Photographer Jan Stel - 'Abandoned and Forgotten' 4
19th Century industrial building
Photographer Jan Stel - 'Abandoned and Forgotten' 6
Rusty tools litter a work bench area that hasn’t been cleared in a former textiles factory, Spain
Photographer Jan Stel - 'Abandoned and Forgotten' 7
Perspective demonstrate the scale of these forgotten industrial yards
Photographer Jan Stel - 'Abandoned and Forgotten' 8
More files from the textiles factory
Photographer Jan Stel - 'Abandoned and Forgotten' 9
Dilapidated buses in France
Photographer Jan Stel - 'Abandoned and Forgotten' 10
Cages against a backdrop of natural light from huge windows, the glass still intact
Photographer Jan Stel - 'Abandoned and Forgotten' 11
Old iron cages hang from the ceiling in a factory in Germany
Photographer Jan Stel - 'Abandoned and Forgotten' 18
Cables also hang forgotten
Photographer Jan Stel - 'Abandoned and Forgotten' 17
Abandoned buses in France
Photographer Jan Stel - 'Abandoned and Forgotten' 15
The morning sun casts a warming light on these stone arches in Cathedral de Vino, Spain
Photographer Jan Stel - 'Abandoned and Forgotten' 16
A subway in Premetro, Belgium
(Image Credits: Jan Stel, Source: Daily Mail)
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