ABOUT LIMINAL SPACES AND LIMINAL PHOTOGRAPHY

16 Oct

The Importance of Urban Exploration — and How It Can Inspire Unique Photography

The word liminal comes from the Latin limen, meaning threshold.
To be in a liminal space is to stand at the edge of something new — not quite where you were, not yet where you’re going. It can be physical, emotional, or spiritual.

Abandoned places embody this perfectly. They once had purpose; now they linger between decay and rebirth. They invite curiosity, nostalgia and a strange sense of stillness.

Drone shot of an abandoned liberty style mansion, with its winter garden off to the side — Abandoned liberty-style mansion, built in 1884 - Milan, Italy (September 2022)

Human beings have always been drawn to ruins — to their textures, their ghosts and the thrill of discovery. Like the treasure hunters of centuries past, we explore not only to find, but to feel.

Today we call it urban exploration, or simply urbex — a practice deeply intertwined with photography.
Artists like Francesca Woodman often worked in deserted houses, turning the human body into a fleeting apparition. In her world, mirrors weren’t reflections — they were portals, thresholds between the living and the forgotten.

Woman in lingerie sitting on an antique armchair in an abandoned villa — Cover photograph from my Liminal Boudoir session “Dos Gardenias” - Milan, Italy (March 2024)

To be an urbexer is to play with imagination. Each room whispers its own history; each object becomes a trace of life once lived.
But photographing these spaces requires more than curiosity. It demands research, patience, and storytelling — understanding who once lived there, what they left behind and how to rebuild their atmosphere through light.

Abandoned hotel on a volcanic crater in Ponta Delgada, Açores — Ponta Delgada, Açores

Abandoned hotel built in the 70s at the edge of a volcanic crater (June 2025)

Everything starts with a story: the characters, the wardrobe, the setting.
A Victorian gown doesn’t belong in a 1980s shopping mall, just as vintage sunglasses feel wrong in an Art Nouveau villa.
Every element must serve the narrative.

My Liminal Photography Sessions — both portrait and architectural — are the culmination of this vision.
With over ten years of experience, I create photographs that evoke nostalgia and magical realism, as if stepping back into a forgotten era of beauty and style.