hey from sydney + question about media bans
I'm actually joining these forums to ask what I'm aware is an unlikely-to-be-granted favour. I'll explain below and leave it in your capable hands to decide whether to respond or not - no hard feelings either way, but I thought it was worth asking.
Basically, I'm a writer, and have been working on a magazine feature tangentially related to urbex. I say tangentially, because the piece itself is a narrative history of the abandoned/unused tunnels at St. James station in Sydney (to give you an idea, I've mostly spoken to railway historians etc. about the way the tunnels were used back in the wars, and for radio and film and so forth). Part of the history is, of course, urbex in these tunnels, and it'd be remiss not to cover some of that. I'm trying to do so sensitively where possible - I understand qualms in the urbex community about media pieces that direct scrutiny and attention to locations. I'd like to try to reflect that side of the community in the piece as a bit of a counter to existing pieces on urbex that tend to feature flashy instagram kids who are eager to splash a lot of information out there.
Essentially, I'm looking to talk to some people about their thoughts on media bans on urbex, what keeping spaces private means to them, how urbex has changed with the flood of instagram accounts etc. leaking photos/details, and any fond memories people have of the St. James tunnels. I'm also interested in how tightening security has affected access to these tunnels, if at all. I'm more than happy for any comments to be anonymised. TL;DR, if anyone would be happy to speak to me about any of the above, reply here or PM me?
Sorry for the flood of text, and sorry also if this is against the forum rules or guidelines - I couldn't find anything specifically banning requests of this type, but I also totally understand if it's something you're not keen on. Thanks for reading!
Collectively, UEGA has not had a whole lot of interest in the St. James Tunnels, possibly because most prefer the thrill of the hunt and would rather find new/unexplored places.
UEGA does not orgainise illegal and dangerous activities, but members are free to take their own risks, in their own time, and share their experiences here.
I have no problem with individuals talking to the media at their discretion - especially about something like St. James, which is really no secret.
And information/opinions/discussion about location secrecy are readily available on these forums.
All the best,
Nuggs (Admin)