the beauty of decay photo series depicts long-forgotten european interiors, by michael schwan

photographer michael schwan’s mission is to explore ‘lost places’ across europe — he describes himself as part of the group of urban explorers. he is curious about what’s hidden behind the closed door, and this is the reason he started his series titled ‘the beauty of decay’.

staircase in an abandoned courthouse in germany

whether furnished villas in portugal or vacant magnificent castles in poland — schwan makes a perfect picture of the scenery accompanied by long-forgotten pieces of past, such as broken pianos, which, by the way, we have already seen in the work shot by romain thiery. the photographer invites the observers to accompany him on a journey into the past, places that no one had seen for a long time, places which step by step are taken by nature.

banquet hall in an abandoned castle in poland

banquet hall in an abandoned castle in germany

ballroom in an abandoned hotel in Germany

projector in an abandoned theater in belgium

piano and staircase in an abandoned castle in france

a magnificent ballroom in a deserted castle in poland

entrance to an abandoned 5-star hotel in portugal

reading room with baroque armchairs in an abandoned mansion in france

the abandoned exchanges in antwerp

staircase in an abandoned castle in poland

winter garden with piano inana abandoned castle in poland

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: maria erman | designboom