In abandoned spaces, the boundary between permanence and disposability begins to blur, inviting us to consider the fragility of existence and the inevitable passage of time.

 

Shane Thoms is a Melbourne-based photographer whose work explores discarded and forgotten places through a cross-cultural and contextual lens. Educated in design and photography at Monash University, Charles Sturt University and the Australian Academy of Design, his practice examines the diverse forces that shape the life and decline of places - from political conflict and environmental disaster to human-made catastrophe, economic change and deindustrialisation.

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His photography spans diverse social, historical and economic contexts: Varosha in Cyprus, shaped by political division; the volcanic aftermath of Montserrat; Chernobyl and Fukushima, marked by technological and nuclear disasters; Detroit, shaped by industrial decline; Japan’s resorts and leisure facilities left behind following the collapse of its asset-price bubble; and Australian industrial and regional communities transformed by the offshoring of manufacturing.

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His first book, Haikyo: The Modern Ruins of Japan, was published in 2017, followed by Abandoned Australia in 2019. As part of the Australia Through Time series, he published Abandoned South Australia in 2022 and Abandoned New South Wales in 2023, followed by Abandoned Victoria in 2025.

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His work has been exhibited in Osaka, Japan, and Melbourne, Australia, and has been featured internationally by the BBC, CNN, Business Insider, The Huffington Post, The Daily Mail and VICE.