Edgar Martin’s eerie plantation photography is breathtakingly spooky. Featuring a series of deserted hydroelectric plants in Portugal, Martin’s series was captured using long exposure on a long format film camera. Each photograph took about 30 minutes to capture. To light the photos, Martin used a flashgun which illuminated the hydroelectric plants enough to be captured on camera but not enough to shake the strange abandoned feeling emanating from each location.
Martin’s photo series channels a deserted atmosphere that feels almost post-apocalyptic. Ladders several stories tall extend down tunnels as deep as a well. The plants’ hallways twist and turn, snaking through the photographs until their direction cannot be discerned any longer. This industrial atmosphere combined with the settings’ feeling of abandonment creates a futuristic dystopia that makes viewers uncomfortably wary but desperate to see more.
Why This Trend Is Growing
- Abandoned Plantation Photography
- Opportunity for creating hauntingly beautiful visuals in abandoned industrial settings.
- Eerie Atmosphere
- Opportunity to evoke a sense of dystopia and post-apocalyptic narrative in photography.
- Long Exposure Photography
- Opportunity to experiment with long exposure techniques to capture unique and atmospheric visuals.
Industries Being Reshaped
- Photography
- Opportunity for photographers to explore abandoned industrial settings as a subject matter.
- Art
- Opportunity for artists to create thought-provoking and eerie visuals inspired by Martin's abandoned plantation photography.
- Film and Television
- Opportunity to incorporate the eerie atmosphere and dystopian narrative of deserted hydroelectric plants into film and television productions.
