Carr School

Carr School sits on Carr Street just north of downtown St. Louis, all alone on a block that's mostly cleared lots. It originally opened in 1909 but has been sitting empty for decades. The open ground of the cleared lots gives you plenty room to work. You can back off and take in the whole building from along Carr St, or move around the wings to experiment with finding smaller details, which you rarely get to do with a city building this size. The building is now an incredible mix of intricate brickwork and the greenery of nature slowly reclaiming the building. In some parts you can even still see the brick murals of children playing run across the ends of the two wings facing into the old school yard. The central bay that once held the kindergarten still shows where tall doors once opened onto small balconies. Up top the roof has failed in places, so from the back the broken roof line is a great contrast against a rich blue sky. Everything here is private property and isn't structurally sound any more either, so make sure to stay on the public areas and only shoot from the sidewalk and the street. Demolition plans come up every few years but so far it's still standing. (St. Louis, Missouri, United States)