Martijn Walet Photography

Martijn Walet Photography Walking through the ashes of time, “flaring” up the dust that once was. Take a look at my artworks.

Not abandoned, yet this place tells a different story. What was once a gateway for travelers has become a “forgotten” mo...
13/06/2026

Not abandoned, yet this place tells a different story. What was once a gateway for travelers has become a “forgotten” monument. And yet, standing before it, you can still feel the weight of its ambition — the echoes of a system that sought to shape lives through concrete and design.

Architecture Brutalism at its peak.

A visit to remember on historical grounds. ▶️ The military barracks of Hajmáskér date back to a time when Hungary was ru...
06/06/2026

A visit to remember on historical grounds.

▶️ The military barracks of Hajmáskér date back to a time when Hungary was ruled by a monarch. During the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, Emperor Franz Joseph selected this site for a future artillery military base. In 1901, the king purchased the land for 1.8 million crowns. The objective was to establish the largest artillery training camp and shooting range in Europe.

My exploration that day was straightforward, accompanied by warm sunlight. The gate to Hajmáskér (or Hajmasker Castle) base was open, and the local residents were indifferent to visitors walking in. Inside, history unfolds amid chaos. Floors and roofs have collapsed, and graffiti covers many surfaces. Unfortunately, this neglect is common in many such sites nowadays.

More shots and the story on my website.

On the basketball court in Diest lies one of Belgium’s most remarkable pieces of street art. Not on a wall, not on a bui...
31/05/2026

On the basketball court in Diest lies one of Belgium’s most remarkable pieces of street art. Not on a wall, not on a building, but stretched across the ground itself.

Created by the renowned Belgian artist Dzia, this giant fox seems to rest peacefully in the grass, almost blending into its surroundings. Known for his distinctive geometric animal portraits, Dzia has transformed an ordinary piece of land into a work of art that can only truly be appreciated from above.

What I love about this piece is the contrast. From ground level, you only catch fragments of the artwork. But as your perspective changes, the sleeping fox slowly reveals itself in its entirety.

A reminder that sometimes you need to step back to see the bigger picture.

Art doesn’t always belong in galleries. Sometimes it belongs in the landscape itself.

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Deep inside this forgotten KGB laboratory, time suddenly stopped.Dust covers the equipment. Old measuring devices still ...
20/05/2026

Deep inside this forgotten KGB laboratory, time suddenly stopped.

Dust covers the equipment. Old measuring devices still stand exactly where they were left behind, surrounded by silence and crumbling concrete. Wires hang loose from the walls, ceilings slowly collapse, yet the room still feels strangely intact—as if someone once walked out and never returned.

What exactly happened here remains unclear.

Was this room and building used for communication? Surveillance? Scientific research? Interrogations? In places connected to the KGB, the line between paranoia and reality was often razor thin. Secrets were currency here, and silence was part of the architecture.

That’s what makes places like this so fascinating to me.
Not only the decay—but the unanswered questions left behind.

Because sometimes the mystery tells a stronger story than the truth ever could.

A true flight back in time when I entered this villa in a small village.It felt as if the owners had left decades ago.Ol...
10/05/2026

A true flight back in time when I entered this villa in a small village.

It felt as if the owners had left decades ago.
Old portraits still hanging on the walls. A sewing machine waiting quietly in the corner. Furniture untouched by modern time, surrounded by peeling wallpaper and silence.

Places like this are rare and very special.

Not because they are abandoned—
but because they still hold atmosphere. The kind that immediately pulls you into another era.

Walking through these rooms felt less like exploration and more like stepping into someone else’s memory. Every object still carrying traces of daily life, routine, and history.

Time stood still here. And for a moment… so did I.

🩵 And then, walking back outside, reality quietly returned.

An elderly lady from the village stood there completely overwhelmed and surprised to see people walking out of that house. Something she said she hadn’t witnessed in decades.

So we exchanged a friendly “hi,” a wave, and a smile.
And just like that, our paths separated again.

A small moment— but one that somehow completed the story of this place.

This place goes back to the early 1900s.A time when this entire complex was alive—driven by iron and fluorite mining, fe...
05/05/2026

This place goes back to the early 1900s.
A time when this entire complex was alive—driven by iron and fluorite mining, feeding the industry and economy of the region.

Hard to imagine now.

Walking through it today, all that’s left are fragments. Structures, textures, silence. But if you look closely, you can still feel the scale of what once happened here. The work. The movement. The purpose.

The story goes even further back.
As early as the 15th century, silver was mined here. Though not much of it remains, the ground still holds that history. Over time, iron took over as the main export, carrying this place well into the industrial age.

Until it couldn’t keep up anymore.

By the mid-19th century, most of the mines in this valley closed. Not because the resources were gone—but because the world moved on. New technology, more efficient operations elsewhere. And this place was left behind.

▶️ Now it stands still, Not forgotten—but paused.

A reminder of the work that once shaped everything around it.

A journey through the wilderness brought me here.Pushing through overgrown paths, stepping over fallen branches, not kno...
02/05/2026

A journey through the wilderness brought me here.

Pushing through overgrown paths, stepping over fallen branches, not knowing exactly what would be waiting at the end. Just a feeling that something was still there… hidden.

And then, suddenly, it appeared.

An old villa, once filled with elegance and intention. You can still see it in the details—the painted ceilings, the arches, the way the light enters the space as if nothing has changed.

But everything has.

The floor is covered in debris. Parts of the structure have collapsed. Time has been working slowly, patiently, reclaiming what was once carefully built.

Standing there, it’s impossible not to feel the contrast.
Below, decay and destruction.
Above, art and craftsmanship holding on.

Places like this don’t disappear overnight.
They fade, layer by layer, revealing their story in fragments.

And for a moment, standing in the silence, it almost feels like the place is still alive—just waiting to be seen again.

✅ abandonedvilla

In this grand villa, once owned by a wealthy family, time suddenly stopped. High ceilings, elegant staircases, rooms fil...
01/05/2026

In this grand villa, once owned by a wealthy family, time suddenly stopped. High ceilings, elegant staircases, rooms filled with life… and then—nothing.

No gradual decline, No slow goodbye, Just silence.

They say the family left overnight. No one really knows why. Some speak of financial collapse, others of something more personal—something that made staying impossible.

And yet… not everything was taken.

This old bike still stands here, waiting.
Leaning against the railing, as if someone just stepped away for a moment… and never came back.

That’s what fascinates me about places like this.
Not just the architecture. Not just the decay.
But the stories that were never finished.

✅
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There’s something almost sacred about standing inside a place like this… even in its silence.Once, this basilica was fil...
26/04/2026

There’s something almost sacred about standing inside a place like this… even in its silence.

Once, this basilica was filled with life. Light filtered through stained glass, voices and music echoed through these arches, and every stone carried purpose. Today, the roof has opened to the sky, nature slowly reclaiming what was once carefully built — yet somehow, the soul of the place remains untouched.

Looking up, you don’t just see decay… you see time. Passing of time.
A roof that gave way, now framing the sky like a reminder that nothing truly lasts — and maybe that’s exactly what makes it so powerful.

For me, places like this are more than abandoned structures. They are frozen moments between past and present. A quiet balance between craftsmanship and collapse, where every detail still whispers stories of what once was.

And in that silence… you can still feel it.

Today marks 40 years since…..In 1986, a single night reshaped an entire region. Lives were displaced, landscapes were ab...
26/04/2026

Today marks 40 years since…..

In 1986, a single night reshaped an entire region. Lives were displaced, landscapes were abandoned, and a symbol of technological progress became one of history’s most haunting reminders of its limits.

Inside this unfinished cooling tower—never put into operation after the disaster—time stands still. Concrete curves upward into silence. Steel structures remain incomplete. A place built for power, never fulfilled.

And then there is this.

A monumental mural by Guido van Helten, painted deep inside the tower. Known worldwide for his large-scale, hyper-realistic portraits, Van Helten often works with local history and memory. His murals are not decorative—they are reflective.

The face you see here is inspired by real people connected to the Chernobyl story. It represents the human side of the disaster—those who lived through it, those who were forced to leave, and those whose lives were forever changed.

Placed in this vast, empty structure, the mural does something powerful.
It gives scale to emotion.
It gives presence to absence.

The industrial shell around it speaks of ambition and failure.
The portrait speaks of resilience, grief, and memory.

Chernobyl is often seen through numbers, radiation levels, and timelines.
But standing here, in front of this mural, it becomes something else.

Human.

40 years later, the silence remains.
But so does the story.

⸻

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