Abandoned records: A paradise for collectors

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Hundreds of thousands abandoned vinyl records, destined to destruction

abandoned vinyl records in a warehouse
©Frédéric Thiphagne, Les mains noires

Music is probably one of the few common points that we all share around the globe. It alone represents “the sound of the earth“. Serving as a therapy for some, as archives or libraries for others, it also serves us to express ourselves, to communicate, to pass on, to help through moments of sadness or to accompany our joys, etc. When a giant vinyl collection is doomed to disappear, it is not only music lovers who cry but it is indeed a part of our culture who dies too!

That is what happened in late 2009. And it’s the photographer Frédéric Thiphagne which tells us the story. Warned by an “anonymous tipster”, he discovers a huge warehouse where the floor is littered with thousands of vinyl records in a mess.

abandoned vinyl records in a warehouse
©Frédéric Thiphagne, Les mains noires

As he says on his blog Les mains noires, he can not tells us more. He was asked to make a vow of silence about the place and what’s inside. The only thing that he’ll give us is that this warehouse was completely destroyed. At the time, end of September 2009, the owner told the photographer that the building had been sold and will be razed within 15 days with the record still inside. Saddened not to be able to share more than the only existing photographs of the warehouse, he realized that they should be seen as a dream, as the greatest fantasy of all diggers. These photos should be seen as the illustration of that dream. In absence of any more information, we’ll leave you to contemplate this desolation.

abandoned vinyl records in a warehouse
©Frédéric Thiphagne, Les mains noires
abandoned vinyl records in a warehouse
©Frédéric Thiphagne, Les mains noires

More photos on his blog: Les mains noires

Certainly this warehouse could bring happiness to thousands of record collectors or artists such as Cb… Vinyl Record Art!