Shane Thoms

Shane Thoms is an architectural photographer, photojournalist and author from Melbourne, Australia.

With a focus on urban spaces, his cross-cultural photographic work has been featured on the BBC, CNN, ABC Australia, Atlas Obscura and The Architectural Digest. He is known for visually documenting a number of exclusion zones including Fukushima, Chernobyl and Montserrat. Additionally, he has extensively explored and constructed essays on abandoned civic spaces across Australia, China, North America and Europe.

His first photographic book, 'Haikyo: The Modern Ruins of Japan' was released in 2017. Exploring a number of abandoned spaces (including Hashima Island, theme parks, hospitals, mines and residential dwellings), these ruins provide a striking contrast to a country known for the illumination and activity that weaves through its pumping metropolises.

Shane Thoms's second book, 'Abandoned Australia' uncovers the post-colonial modern ruins dotted over this vast continent.

Focusing solely on a more isolated region, his third book 'Abandoned South Australia' reveals a diverse, unique and often unexplored area of The Great Southern Land.

His fourth book 'Abandoned New South Wales' focuses again on another region of Australia. Visually documenting the factories, convents, churches, civic spaces and rural dwellings dotted over its broad landscape, this work raises discussions on the suburban evolution of Australia's most populous state.