Looking Back at Obscura Day 2012

Well done, everyone. As we recover from Obscura Day 2012, we are thrilled to see stories and amazing images from Obscura Day adventures across the country and around the world starting to pour in. Including everything from tales of exploding sporrans to close up encounters with mummies and extinct bird specimens, or exploring the (real!!) tunnels under Alcatraz, we give you:

OBSCURA DAY STORIES, 2012 EDITION

The Hidden Beauty of an Abandoned Prison - Philadelphia

Photo by Dawn Haggerty 

“We had a terrific tour guide, putting up with with the small group of us with tripods and other such equipment trailing behind to get our shots sans bodies. Funny thing is, one of the tripod gang I was able to recognize as one of the members of an online urbex group of which I belong – one whom I had wanted to meet!” - Obscura Day at Eastern State Pen

It Tastes Like Salt & Death: Licking the Mummy at Obscura Day’s Cabaret in Toronto

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“Alright, so you’re gonna be hearing some crazy rumors about me licking a mummy. And by, crazy rumors,’ I mean, ‘okay, yeah, that happened.’” - Obscura Day Sideshow Fun

Monkey Eating Eagles & Bird’s Nests in Cereal Boxes

Photo source

“Some of the specimens date back to the late 1800’s, a time when there were not so many regulations on collecting specimens… Yes, that’s an old cornflake box. A Mexican cornflake box to be exact. Back in the day the ornithologists would use any container they could. Is it bad that this box was my favorite ‘specimen?’” -  A Bird in the Hand… Obscura Day at the Moore Laboratory of Zoology

Images and Advertisements from a Future that Never Was - Los Angeles

“The latest revolution in machinery is always handing off the baton to something better. It’s sort of how technology works. And we can barely keep up. We’re always trying to outpace ourselves, predicting what will be needed.” - Paleofuture: Ghosts of Technology Past

Into the Grottos beneath the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden in Vancouver

Photo courtesy of  http://vancouverisawesome.com

“Obscura Day was this past Saturday and the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden opened up the caves in Ting Mountain to the public for the first time… It’s hard to describe the beauty of the caves and the feeling you have when entering a place very few people ever have.” -  Exploring the Grotto Beneath Ting Mountain

Rare Books and Odd Ephemera- Miami Beach, Florida

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“One such hidden wonder in the library collection includes Philips’ Planisphere, a mechanical work designed to reveal all the constellations visible in the sky on any given night of the year—something that today can only be appreciated here in South Florida in the heart of the Everglades as so many of the stars have become obscured by artificial city light.” - Obscure Objects in the Wolfsonian Museum Collection

Exploding Sporrans & Anotomical Oddities - Obscura Day in Edinburgh

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“…And the highlight of the tour had to be the exploding sporran! Apparently if you try to open it using the wrong knob, it fires 4 wee pistols out to the sides!”  - Obscurities in Edinburgh

Stalking Street Art in New York City

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“…I found one open option that really piqued my curiosity: a street art photography workshop led by Saddleshoe Tours of the city’s Bowery, Lower East Side, and Soho neighborhoods. I brushed off my camera (still a touch gritty with dust from the Masai Mara and the Serengeti), charged the battery, deleted some of my older photos from the memory card, and headed out.” - Street Art Photography Workshop

WE WANT MORE

Please share your videos, pictures, and links with us
Stop by the official 2012 Obscura Day Flickr Pool to check out the terrific images already there & share your photos from the day’s adventures: Obscura Day Flickr Pool

If you took great photos, video or wrote about your Obscura Day, we’d like to hear about it - you can email us at [email protected]

THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS THE BEST OBSCURA DAY YET

We want to thank all of you for joining us in creating this day of local explorations that continues to surprise and delight us with the unusual places it uncovers, the incredible images and stories you’ve shared with us, and the growing community of curious minded folks that we have the ongoing pleasure of meeting and exploring with each year. You guys are the best. Seriously.

We hope you’ll join us next year for Obscura Day or for an Obscura Society event near you!