We were lucky to catch up with Regina Daniel recently and have shared our conversation below.

Regina, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My mission with photographing abandoned buildings & places is two things; First, is to preserve the history of each place. Tell the story of how these places served the surrounding communities.
Second, within the low income communities that are abandoned or have a multitude of abandoned buildings, are problems that don’t happen within the suburbs or affluent communities, such as; food deserts, closed schools, and easy access to medical facilities, and I like to use my platform to spread awareness about the problems in these marginalized communities.

Regina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I photograph all kinds of abandoned places and write about their histories and current statuses. What got me into this was, back in 2014, I saw a show about Picher Oklahoma and decided to roadtrip to down there to see what a ghost town was all about. I knew then I loved photographing abandoned places.
Since that time I have explored a multitude of places throughout seven states and written six books about Kansas City, some ghost towns of Eastern Kansas, and the mining town of Picher Oklahoma.

I am proud of the metamorphosis through this journey. What started out as curiosity and the thrill of getting inside has a become pursuit to preserve history.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of all of this is that I’ve managed to take a hobby I love and turn it into something that pays a couple of my bills. Maybe one day it will pay all the bills, but if not, that’s ok because I am a part of preserving history while spreading awareness. And those two things that you can’t put a price tag on.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

I don’t manage a team, however I do network with a lot of people. I network with local/out of state explorers, government officials, law enforcement, real estate developers, demolition experts, and the general public. I’m a firm believer in “you can catch more flies with honey.” Kindness today can get you answers or in a door tomorrow. So it’s important to always be kind and respectful, even if you don’t always get it in return.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B09DDGG28G
• Instagram: Redvixenphotography
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RedVixPhotography
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Redvixensadventures
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@redvixensadventures

Image Credits

All photos taken by Regina Daniel