Treading Lightly
on the Treasure Hunt
Taking safety into consideration, another
guideline for explorers is to always enter a
bando with care and caution. Old floorboards
and ceilings have a tendency to rot over time
and this can pose a particularly dangerous
hazard to a curious explorer. It is never worth
jeopardizing your safety in an attempt to get
that perfect bando shot.
With fences surrounding many properties
and signs forbidding entrance, the daring few
combine courage with artistry to deliver their
edgy photography. To minimize visibility,
parking cars away from the targeted property
is key, as well as mindfulness once indoors,
as some bandos may contain motion sensor
alarms. Shooting alone can be particularly
dangerous for an urbexer or rurexer, so
adventuring with a company of three to four
photographers is a common precaution—
though a larger group may draw unwanted
attention. It is also important to tell someone
where you will be exploring, even when
moving in groups.
Finding bandos is just as much of the
challenge as shooting them. Holtegaard shares,
“I do a lot of research to find the places I go to
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and it could take me days, weeks or even months
to get an exact location. I usually do research
with people I have explored with before that I
know I can trust. There are times when I will
drive around looking, and then there are times
when I am driving to a location and find some
abandonment along the way.”
An interesting workaround for gaining access
to complicated bandos is the use of drones. If
a point of entry cannot be found, then a drone
can be used to offer a unique perspective of the
property without breaking the unspoken rules.
Drone pilot and photographer, Bryan Dumas,
often ventures out in search of impossible
locations with his drone at the ready.
Dumas recounts:
“One day, I headed up to Bannerman’s Castle
in the Hudson Valley. The island, located in
a narrow passage on the Hudson River has
always served strategic importance since the
Revolutionary War. Most recently, it served
as a military surplus storage facility until some
of that surplus exploded and destroyed much
of the main structure. I flew my drone from
the mainland over the island to capture some
up-close views of this fascinating structure.”