Dark Arts: The Eerie And Affecting Photography Of Derek McEntire

Concrete City --  Nanticoke, PA

It's been a while since our last Dark Arts post!  I'm glad to be back and today will be highlighting the work of a very promising young photographer, Derek McEntire.  Full disclosure: Derek is the son of my best friend's cousin Shawn- someone I grew up with and who has very similar tastes in the morbid and macabre.  As it turns out, his son does too!  I was recently introduced to his keen eye and wanted to share his work with all of you.

Derek is a mere 24 years old and hails from southeastern Pennsylvania, where bleak and gloomy subjects abound for an enthusiastic photographer interested in documenting the darker side of life.  His focus on abandoned buildings and spooky locations piqued my interest and left me wanting to see more.  While I myself have enjoyed photographing cemeteries over the years, every time I see an abandoned house, prison, etc., I've always thought it would be profoundly interesting to capture those places as well - and Derek has done just that, in striking fashion. 

I'll just let him tell you about his passion in his own words:

"I am a photographer based in Lancaster, PA.  I photograph lots of landscapes and everything else that catches my eye, but what I love and am best known for is photographing haunted, eerie, and abandoned locations. 

 I always had a love for haunted places and eerie things - everything from horror movies to creepy legends, but my passion for haunted locations came from watching the TV show Ghost Hunters.  I decided to combine my three favorite things: photography, eerie locations and travel.  

My most recent photography series Haunted, Eerie, and Abandoned started off at the one and only Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, PA., one of the most haunted locations in the U.S. "

"From there I took my series to Centralia, PA, which inspired the horror film Silent Hill.  The church in the photo made an appearance in the film."

"I ended the photography series at the eeriest place I have EVER been: Concrete City, an early example of International style architecture in the US. built as company housing in 1911 for employees of Delaware, Lackawanna and Western railroad coal division.  It has been abandoned since 1924,  This place will give you chills down the spine. In my opinion it's a scene straight out of a horror film."

 "These 3 destinations were the start of my photography series that will continue this August at the abandoned PA turnpike.  My love for horror, creepy tales of the unknown, and photography is what drives me to continue to choose these destinations."

Eastern State Penitentiary

 "It's like taking a step back in time or walking through a live horror movie.  I want you to feel what I feel as if you're there with me... the haunted history, the spine-tingling artifacts left behind and most importantly the beauty of the destination...all through my photography.  My passion for this is what you will feel."  / DM

 **Thanks for sharing your work with us, Derek!  I know I certainly look forward to the continuation of your series! /ch

You can find Derek on Facebook

 Instagram at  dnm.photography

And his website:  Derek McEntire Photography