LuxUrbex - Urban Exploration and Urbex Photography in Luxembourg

Traditionally, caving is almost always practiced in the limestone. The mining speleology is to explore underground mines and quarries. It is the desire to discover underground places dug by man in different kinds of rocks.

There are few organizations specialized in this field, except for reasons related to the local heritage. Nevertheless, we must mention the mineralogists who share with us the old mining sites, but their ethics and expectations are others.

The access to the mines is often very complicated. Most of the time they are closed for years, even decades. The entrances are welded, collapsed or closed from aggradation. Very often, a passage has to be cleared through a collapse, through a exhaust gallery, and in some cases it is necessary to equip as well...

Compared with caving, the technical progress on ropes is similar.

This kind of exploration is not without risk. There are a lot of very long networks, sometimes these are grids of several hundred kilometers of development. Sometimes the galleries are not very stable anymore. More rarely, there may be danger due to missing oxygen or increase of carbon dioxide and other gases.

The interest to go in mines and quarries is essentially related to heritage. It helps to understand industries that have disappeared for a long time. The human factor is very important here. The search for an understanding of what man did in these places is the main goal of these explorations. Sometimes old books, worker helmets or large machines rusting there for decades can be found. There is, for the fans, a certain aesthetic in these places petrified by oblivion. Sometimes, the excavations are very hight (over 40 m) and it's always impressive to think that this is the work of men and not of nature.

The photograph tries to capture and share these beauties (mostly with open flash or light painting). Sometimes it is very useful to record the sound as well. In this way, the special atmosphere in the old mines can be shared with friends. Filming is very difficult because highlighting needs are out of proportion.

This text was translated from a french text written by Amm and Tchorski. The original text can be found here.