Throughout the ages, mankind has been fascinated by the ruins of previous societies. The desire to gain a greater understanding of our past has

driven archaeologists, artists, and scholars from across the world to study the vestiges of lifestyles that have vanished in an attempt to capture

their mystique and beauty.

Originally intended as an examination of the rise and fall of the state hospital system, Matthew Christopher's Abandoned America rapidly grew

to encompass derelict factories and industrial sites, schools, churches, power plants, hospitals, prisons, military installations, hotels, resorts, homes,

and more. Through his collection of writing and photography, Christopher has spent the last decade documenting the ruins of one of the greatest

civilizations the world has ever known: our own. Exploring sites like the charred remains of the Hotel Do De, the rusted cells of the Essex County Jail

Annex, the sublime majesty of the Church of the Transfiguration, or the eerie and dilapidated remnants of the New Castle Elks Lodge, the work spans

architectural treasures left to the elements and then all too often lost forever.