Talking Walls Photography

Many years ago, before social media turned everybody into an urban explorer, I had a dream. That dream was to visit old ghost towns across Ontario and create a website where people could learn about these forgotten places. I traveled many kilometers and took many photos using a 35 mm film camera. I visited mills, cemeteries, railway towns and everything in between. The result was the first Canadian website for urban exploring and it was named “Mike’s Ontario Ghost Towns”. You might know the website by it’s modern day name, Ontario Abandoned Places. I no longer operate the website but I do maintain this blog.

My name is Michael Lalonde, a photographer and urban explorer from the Hamilton, Ontario area. I’ve been exploring, give or take, since 1999. This makes me officially old. I’ve been featured in my local newspaper, CBC News, Northern Life, Reader’s Digest (Our Canada Magazine) and The Daily Mail.

I post my adventures here on this blog for you to enjoy. You’ll find a variety of content ranging from rural farm houses to exquisite multi-million dollar estates to hospitals to correctional facilities. The legalities of this hobby are that you should always seek permission before going onto someone’s property.

I wrote an E-book titled “It’s Too Clean To Be Abandoned”. This is a FREE download which is an entry-level guide to exploring. It covers legalities, how to find locations, how to track down owners, dealing with confrontations, beginning locations, and much more.