Dustin Grau Photography

There were rumors of an old school so pristine that even taggers and scrappers had not hit it. Where the walls were covered in storybook characters, and the rooms exposed their bones behind the plaster. The only downside was that the location was very much out of town, far enough…

We found this house at the end of a street, door wide open and looking lonely. There wasn’t much to it with only 2 bedrooms, living room, and kitchen. However, the scribblings on the walls, ransacked cabinets, drawings posted on the walls, and drug paraphernalia on the mantle indicated that…

The bathtub races are a new annual tradition at SPSU. Started in the late 70′s and running through the early 90′s, the event was a draw to new and old students alike. Due to high insurance costs and transitions within the university, the ability and interest waned. Though in 2010…

All good things must come to an end, and it is very likely that the end is near for the home of “sad bear”. There have been many rumors of the demise of this building, and the current news from the community is that bulldozers will roll this summer. I’ve…

After months of lurking on their Facebook page, I finally had a free Tuesday to attend a studio shoot with the Atlanta Photographers Guild (APG). This week it was at their Goat Farm studio space, with a very talented model (in my opinion) and some lighting equipment I don’t normally…

This was a very interesting photoshoot, as it was the first sunrise shoot from within an abandoned building. This building was once used by a company that manufactured industrial equipment, but will soon be used to store fixtures and parts that will be reclaimed and repurposed for buildings. A member…

It is always sad to see locations with a rich history go to waste like this former home of a figure tied to the Coca-Cola heritage. Being an Atlanta staple, it would be thought that such a building would be preserved, but neglect, time, and the elements have done more…

This was a location that’s been on my to-do list for a while, and finally came up as an opportunity. It was formerly a winery, most likely performing both the making and bottling as based on the remaining artifacts. The vats that likely held wine had been removed, and a…

The last time I visited Europe was for a similar work-related conference in the Netherlands. This year I was accepted to the EMEAPUG (Europe, Middle East, Africa Progress Users Group) conference which was held in Manchester, England. I arrived early on a Wednesday morning, so I had some time to…

Just after wrapping up my photowalk in Atlanta, I met up with some local explorers to revisit a railroad mechanical shop. I knew that I had not fully explored the location the first time I visited, and much of it was flooded due to heavy rains the previous week. As…

This year marked the 5th annual Worldwide Photowalk, with over 30,000 photographers taking to the streets on a single day (last year was a 2-day event, but proved to be too difficult to organize). After 2 years of missing the initial announcement, I finally got into the group that visits…

Historic Oakland Cemetery has become a favorite place of mine since 2008. My daughter simply knows it as “the park with the statues”, though she does understand that it’s a graveyard. It’s a difficult connotation to shake, but every year they open the doors to both the park and the…

This year I actually made it in time to the local fall festival in my town, but also was able to let me daughter participate with her daycare in a float. That gave me the chance to walk with the other parent, teachers, and staff while getting pictures of the…

This was a location I’ve actually wanted to revisit for quite a while. Like the “Bordon” location I’ve covered several times, this school was built in the early 20′s and shares very similar architecture and construction styles. I first found this building around 2008, and it’s even more desolate and…

Finally a new school for the yearbook. This one was only recently abandoned (sometime in 2009 or 2010), but has been ravaged by scrappers and thieves quite badly. Most everything has been ripped off the walls or out of the ceilings, but the artwork and some small bits remain that…

While making our way through Atlanta, some locations turned out to be a dud, leading us back to this old school. Much like the Glidden Paint factory, I had visited this building several times before and thought that it had little else to offer me. Boy was I wrong. The…

Continuing with Atlanta’s railroad past, I ventured into a new location (for me) that once served the mighty rails. The previous railroad location I visited once built cars, whereas this one repaired them. This was obviously a mechanical shop (as opposed to a production or supply depot), and once had…

Here’s a quickie from a church on the east side of town. There’s really not much to see, but someone had written some interesting phrases on the wall. As seen in this cover photo, I liked the one advising against setting foot inside, yet the ivy outside appears to disregard…

Despite the fact that I live only 2mi from this location, it has been several years since I’ve actually visited the museum. A chance to visit 1 hour before the public was presented, and I made use of the opportunity. I could probably spend hours in this place finding all…

One place we had yet visited since our daughter was born was the mountains. Luckily, we’re only about 2hrs from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the surrounding areas of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge in Tennessee. And as per usual, I took along my camera as it had been…