Beautiful yet haunting photographs of abandoned places in America – once thriving buildings now ravaged by nature and time are the subject of this fascinating, coffee table photo book.

Throughout the ages, mankind has been fascinated with the ruins of previous societies. The desire to gain a greater understanding of our past has driven archaeologists, artists and scholars across the world to study the vestiges of lifestyles that have vanished in an attempt to capture their mystique and beauty.

Originally intended as an examination of the rise and fall of the state hospital system, Matthew Christopher's Abandoned America rapidly grew to encompass derelict factories and industrial sites, schools, churches, power plants, hospitals, prisons, military installations, hotels, resorts, homes, and more. Through his collection of writing and photography, Matthew has spent the last decade documenting the ruins of one of the greatest civilizations the world has ever known: our own. Exploring sites like the charred remains of the Hotel Do De, the rusted cells of the Essex County Jail Annex, the sublime majesty of the Church of the Transfiguration, or the eerie and dilapidated remnants of the New Castle Elks Lodge, Christopher's work spans architectural treasures left to the elements and then all too often lost forever.

美丽迷人的美国废墟照片——曾经辉煌的历史建筑如今饱受自然和时间的蹂躏。

古往今来，人类一直对被遗弃的废墟着迷不已。渴望更多了解我们的过去，促使世界各地的考古学家、艺术家和学者研究那些已经消失的生活方式的遗迹，试图捕捉它们的神秘和美丽。

美国摄影师马修·克里斯托弗（Matthew Christopher）的《废土：美国》最初是为了考察州立医院系统的兴衰，后来迅速发展到包括废弃的工厂和工业用地、学校、教堂、发电厂、医院、监狱、军事设施、酒店、度假村、住宅等等。在过去十年里，马修通过他的写作和摄影集记录了美国的废墟。探索多德酒店烧焦的遗迹、埃塞克斯县附属监狱锈迹斑斑的牢房、变貌教堂的庄严肃穆，或新堡麋鹿小屋怪异而破败的残垣断壁，克里斯托弗拍摄的这些建筑宝藏被遗弃在大自然中，往往会永远消失于世。