TIME CREATES BEAUTIFUL ILLUSIONS NOW

Glory. Is it an illusion? Or is it inherent?

The rich lush complicated interiors are astonishing. Look more closely and you will come to understand that you are looking at the beauty of decay. Your spirit, first soars when seeing these monumental spaces, then dives, when you realize that they are all crumbling beyond the point of return.

CHRISTIAN RICHTER

The master of these illusions is fine arts photographer Christian Richter. His talent begins with his passion for architecture design. He connects with the core structures, the bones, and the aesthetic souls of buildings, keeping them in brilliant focus as paint peels and plaster becomes rubble.

Richter was born and grew up in the old German Democratic Republic. After the reunification of Germany, there were a lot of old buildings that were left abandoned, and Richter began to explore them, before he even owned a camera. Their beauty left a deep impression upon him. 

Years later,  when a friend bought himself a new digital camera, he gave his old one to Richter. And Richter immediately began to start photographing these old buildings. 

“When I was young, I fell in love with abandoned buildings,” Richter says. “After I got a camera as a present, I started photographing the beauty there.”

Richter’s network of friends are always on the lookout for new places for him to photograph. Mostly the buildings are empty. But they often contain loads of interior structures and detail, such as grand spiral staircases and elaborate moldings.

Permanence is an illusion. “I simply adore old decaying architecture,” Richter explains, “their patterns and textures – they remind me that everything is impermanent.”

Time adds its artistry to the color and forms, while Richter’s lighting and composition beautiful highlight the framework and detail.

Richter doesn’t tell us where these places are, intentionally. He fears that if they were public knowledge, they would be at risk for vandalism.

Now, solely devoted to photographing the abandoned photography, Richter is currently based in the small town of Jeßnitz, Germany, but largely travels around Europe, scouting for new subjects.

Richter mostly shoots with a wide angle len, in HDR, and only minimally processes his images in Lightroom and Photoshop.

Check out Richter’s Instagram to see his latest.

Read more about Beautiful Illusions, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact including 10 Films Featuring The Beauty of Illusions Now, These Rainbow Places Are Not Beautiful Illusions See Them Now,The Beauty of Illusive Still Lifes Now, The Art & Science of Illusion Now, The Beautiful Illusion of Place Now and The Art & Beauty of Body Illusions Now.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Christian Richter. Colorful Decay.
2. Image: by Christian Richter. Abandoned Room.
3. Image: by Christian Richter. Colors.
4. Image: by Christian Richter. Shell.
5. Image: by Christian Richter. Office Days.
6. Image: by Christian Richter. Railing.
7. Image: by Christian Richter. Look.
8. Image: by Christian Richter. Eye.
9. Image: by Christian Richter. Abandoned Eye.
10. Image: by Christian Richter. Modern Light Staircase.
11. Image: by Christian Richter. Play the Last Song.
12. Image: by Christian Richter. The Green Mile.
13. Image: by Christian Richter. Veröffentlicht in Allgemein.
14. Image: by Christian Richter. Ceiling Light.
15. Image: by BN App - Download now!
16. Image: by Christian Richter. Elevator.