Its around 1630 on the 21st of May, 2012.Half my life ago, i decided to obsessively pursue what back in 1996 was just called exploring (and a year later, draining) and what is these days known as Urban Exploration. It was a rainy afternoon and i remember deciding this as i walked along the side of the Anzac Bridge approach, having climbed the Old Glebe Island Silos for the 3rd time. I was a newbie through and through, having only ever explored said Silos, the Monsanto Chemical Works next to my high school, the remnants of a Unilever Soap Factory in East Balmain and made numerous shortcuts through the then disused Glebe Train Tunnel. But upon making my decision, i set out to actively find and explore new sites. And as they say, the rest is history...I was 15 years, 11 months and one week old, just short of 16. Today im 31 years, 11 months and one week old, just short of 32.Im still at it and sitting here now, im trying to figure out if its good, or a little sad that ive been doing this stuff for more than half my life.Either way, i thought id mark my milestone with some photos from over the years. Ive reedited them, as many suffer from 'looked good on a dim cathode ray but not on a bright LDC' syndrome.1996.This was the first photo i ever took that i actually liked. I took it with a cheap Hanimex point and click when asked to shoot a roll of Ilford Fp4 for a high school art class. It along with my explorations of the Silos encouraged me to save up and buy an SLR, in this first case, a second hand Pentax P30.I soon became aware that my area had three abandoned power stations lying about, ruining property values, not to mention the enormous CSR Refinery, which is now home to more than 5000 luxury apartments. White Bay Power Station still stands, Balmain fell over in 1998 and then there was this rarely seen gem. The Powerstation for the CSR refinery in Pyrmont, seen in the background to the left. NOT Pyrmont Power Station as you might wonder, this structure was just the boiler house, the turbine hall being the smaller building to its right. The facade of the boiler house still stands, bolted onto the lower half of the apartment block that replaced it within 2 years of this photos, while the crane, turbine hall and silos(directly to the right) are all gone. Charlie, my early only exploring partner started me on the photography journey when he inherited his mums old Pentax MX. That we were able to wander about the site in broad daylight was a testament to how easy going it used to be.Still in the CSR Refinery grounds, we climbed these cranes and this was my first ever attempt at a 'time exposure'. Stuck with no cable release and a max shutter of 1 second, this was the result at f2.8. At the time i thought it was fantastic...Balmain Power station sat abandoned from 1979 until 1998. By 1996 it was but a shell sitting in a wasteland surrounded by a chain link fence full of holes. I only ever ran into a seccer once, n he ended up telling me to be careful before he left. The access to the level in this photo was a welded off admin staircase, so we used to climb the rotting pipe clusters to get up here. From there it was free and easy access to the rest of the building.1997.In July 1997 i met with Predator, my first contact with the 'Cave Clan'. Through him i developed an obsession with these places, dark and damp, that infested the city in numbers great enough as to keep me busy for the entire year... however i was rubbish at photographing storm drains back then, so i concentrated my photography on the Glebe Island Silos, their impending demise spurring me on. The entire port at Glebe Island was a veritable playground. P platers drag raced down the back of Somerville Road; there was no security and every door in this magnificent complex was wide open. Then there was this lovely convex mirror...My first attempt at double exposure. By this time id saved up and bought a second hand Nikon F801 and my efforts were improving and diversifying.Ive always liked this pic. I took two metalheads from my school up the Silos and on a whim posed them moving their heads about during this 15 second exposure in the dimly lit conveyor hall, next to this section where for some reason the top of some of the cells had been removed. I had no idea their heads were going to disappear completely!The interior of the Glebe Silos reminded me of a level from Doom II. So many yawning chasms and large open spaces. This was an 8 second exposure, from the bridge over the 10 storey deep gap between the Main Cell block and the 20 storey Workhouse.Sitting on one of the illumination bridges that traversed the width of the Rozelle Railyards, watching trucks chug down the back of the new Glebe Island Silos.And the very same light bridge, above the subway train that wasused in 'The Matrix' during the fight scene between Neo and Agent Smith. The subway station set was 30m behind me in this pic, in the loading dock of the old silos. I never got into it as the security guard said he was fine with me trespassing anywhere else in the silos as long as i kept out of the set. If id known The Matrix was to be the phenomenal hit it was, idve snuck in.1998.After being a three man gig for nearly 6 years, the Cave Clan in Sydney grew threefold in 1998. I first met Ogre and Mr India in January, Dirge soon after, Trioxide and Maddog in May, and Hatchet Hardcore by mid August. We started having get together's and for the first time since '96 i had more than one exploring friend. We even made t-shirts. This pic was on the roof of White Bay Power Station.Prior to 1998, the idea of popping any of Sydney's daunting looking manholes just didnt fit into any equation for me, given i did most drains solo. Upon meeting up with others however, we quickly got into the art of popping lids using home made lifters. Mine you can see here, with the purple abseil tape. We used tape cos Sydney lids weigh so much its easier to swing them.In early '98 myself, Ogre and Dirge were in The Domain and i spotted two manhole sitting side by side in a field. Ogre wrote them off, but keen as ever to try my new lifter, i lugged one of the 80kg bastards out. Turns out it was access to the long disused Wooloomoolloo Oil Reservoir...By this time White Bay Power Station had been stripped of all its asbestos and PCB's. It wasnt as easy to just walk into as it had been 2 years earlier, but the lack of workers on site, coupled with them leaving the lights on after they left more than made up for any exertions.Balmain on its last legs. In the end they attached huge chains from the legs to the arms of caterpillars and in synchronised fashion, pulled it off its feet.News spot showing final demolition.As stated, almost all my drain photography was using a reasonably large on camera flashgun. Most pics were well exposed but dull. Occasionally we found a dead eel though...Hatchet Hardcore. Upon getting a phone call out of the blue from this exploring machine, my evenings, as of mid August were filled with mini road trips to the farthest reaches of Sydney. We tore the western suburbs apart, finding drain after drain and rediscovering gems such as St James at the Helensburgh tunnel, such as on this cold rainy day.Late in '98 we got our first visit from the mighty Melbourne Cave Clan. Ogre and i had been to Melbourne in March for the Clannies, but hadnt met many people at the time. This visit started a semi-serious rivalry between the ever growing Sydney Clan and the ever massive Melbourne lot. We still had fun nearly drowning in the outfall of Fortress though.Trips up the silos were still regular... probably more so towards the end of the year. BY the first quarter of 1999 they were under attack, surrounded by cranes and being eaten away by various caterpillar diggers.