Following on from another thread, is this glamorised trespassing, is it on a par with burglary or is it an harmless hobby?
Urbex's do trespass on private property and many think that this is wrong, but they never break into anywhere and never take anything away apart from photographs and maybe some dust on their boots. All that they want to do is take photographs, for the record, of premises that were previously unaccessible, and then leave.
It is very interesting and exiting hobby, but many are intent on stopping it with their ill informed interpretation of the law.
Trespass with intent to..... (a) cause damage (b)cause harm (c) to steal etc are criminal offences and are, justifiably, treated as such.
The simple act of trespass is not a criminal offence but a civil offence. If you are caught on private property and are asked to leave, you leave straight away and no action will be taken. For the land owner to take any action they have to prove beyond any doubt that you have cost them money by being there. They cannot force you to delete any photo's (you can then sue them for criminal damage), they can't confiscate any equipment, and they can't "arrest" you unless they find evidence of any wrong doing. Even the police cannot delete any of your photo's unless evidence of terrorism is found.
Many of the premises entered have never been seen by the public and are interesting both for photography and history. There is a web site that i'm sure most of you have come across were most of the photo's are published (28dayslater) where many interested people can see the pictures.
In some places it can be dangerous, but you go dressed and equipped appropriately, knowing that any mishap is purely down to you.