I have to quote the Greenhill Camera blog, how they described Aurélien Villette’s photographic style: “Terry Gilliam meets Ridley Scott.” Hits the nail squarely on its round head. We know that a single picture is worth a thousand words, and in the case of Villette’s pictures, never has this maxim been truer.
Armed with Nikon D700 and D800 cameras (both delightfully accessible, fantastic devices) and rather simple lighting set-ups, Villette has traveled to more than 350 abandoned sites over the past six years, compiling images for his Architecture Forgotten series. The haunting scenes speak for themselves—buildings that once stood proud and regal, full of life and commerce, now left to rot by a society that has deemed them unnecessary. Paint peeling, roofs sunken, intricate murals left to disintegrate under encroaching mildew stripes. Within every photograph lies the potential for a million untold stories. Villette, a former communications manager and webmaster, makes his home in Paris, France.
