Abandoned Belgium

Through his camera lens, Francis Meslet sends a strong message about deindustrialisation, neighbourhood abandonment, and the beauty and fragility of our heritage – all while inviting us to reflect on how to protect it for future generations.

Between 2010 and 2023, Francis Meslet travelled around Belgium looking for abandoned places – witnesses to history and the socio-economic changes that have shaped the country. What began as a way of documenting the neglect of industrial and urban monuments, quickly expanded to include other dispossessed places: factories, industrial wastelands, schools, churches, Roman baths, swimming pools, theatres, mansions, castles, and hospitals, for example. His photography captures the grandeur and decadence of one of the oldest European nations.