Photos of Mother Nature Conquering Abandoned Buildings

Thirty-three-year-old Jonathan Jimenez, AKA Jonk, has been taking photos since he was 11. Over the past five years, the Parisian has focused almost solely on decrepit manmade structures, visiting more than 700 abandoned locations in 33 countries on four continents. The result is a new book, Naturalia: Reclaimed by Nature, featuring the oddly invigorating spectacle of nature creeping in and taking over what man has long forgotten.

"First I was looking for graffiti in abandoned places, but [while] looking for it, I came to realise the intensity of the atmosphere; the beauty of time passing," Jonk says. "Nature taking back creates unbelievable and highly photogenic sceneries. For me, it appeared as infinite poetry."

"It is poetic, even magic, to see nature retaking what used to be hers," he adds, "reintegrating through broken windows, cracks on the walls. Spaces built by man and then neglected, until nature sometimes guzzles them entirely."

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