Explore the abandoned world.

A weed-covered iron greenhouse next to a castle in Belgium might make some people hesitate, but not French photographer Jonathan “Jonk” Jimenez. “It’s a rusty place with broken windows, but it’s still beautiful. I like to find beauty where people think it can’t be found,” Jimenez explains.

Jonathan Jimenez, 34, known by his stage name "Jonk," began taking photographs at the age of 11. Over the past five years, he has visited more than 700 abandoned locations in 33 countries across four continents. The result is the photo book he created.Naturalia: Reclaim by Nature, which documents how nature infiltrates and takes over structures long forgotten by humans.

With a deep love for street art, Jimenez began his journey by documenting graffiti artists in Barcelona – those who used secluded locations in the city as canvases. Upon returning to his hometown of Paris, Jimenez began exploring the urban world through hidden corners. He climbed rooftops, navigated subway tunnels, and spent days underground, exploring the inner workings of the city's catacombs. Currently, his focus is on exploring locations outside the city.

However, Jimenez also warned that people should think carefully before visiting abandoned places. Sometimes, just out of curiosity or a desire for thrills, many people decide to invade the privacy of these locations. Jimenez recounted an incident where he visited a brewery in northern France, where the guard dog barked loudly, and the police arrived to question him. “The invasion I’m talking about here is because I entered places that are considered private property, not in the sense of vandalism,” Jimenez said. “After realizing I was just a photographer, they all let me go.”

Continuing his quest for forgotten places, Jimenez photographed an abandoned Soviet military base in Belarus, then explored a greened castle in Croatia. Instead of studying the history of the sites, Jimenez preferred photography as a way to capture specific moments of time passing. These weathered buildings remind us of the inevitable process of history. Ultimately, the natural world will reclaim what rightfully belongs to it.

"It's poetic and wondrous to witness firsthand how Mother Nature reclaims what was once hers," Jonk said. "Squeezing through broken windows and cracks in the walls, spaces built by humans and then abandoned by humans are finally reclaimed by nature."

"When people look at these abandoned places, they often see the dark side and imagine a post-apocalyptic world," Jonk said. "But for me, what I want to convey through these photographs is that nature is always stronger than humans. In the end, nature will win."

Hannah Nguyen