"A lot of these places are worth being saved," Leland Kent said.
Photographer Leland Kent snaps eerie photographs of buildings and homes that have been long forgotten, featuring them on his blog, Abandoned Southeast, in a bid to bring life to neglected structures in the region.
"I would probably say my most favorite is the Masonic Temple in Birmingham — that's where I grew up," he told InsideEdition.com "It's one of the first places I've explored and it was almost kind of like a museum. It was closed up and kind of forgotten about for years and it's really unique to see. That kind of history is something so unique and ornate."
Kent tries to get permission to visit each site. While he's never been caught trespassing, his pastime does come with other risks.
"I almost fell through a floor in a funeral home once," he said. "I encountered a snake at a phosphate plant that literally chased me out of the building."
Kent hopes his photographs help breathe some life back to these locations.
"A lot of these places are worth being saved. They have a history to them," he said. "A lot of places are, you know, too far gone now and maybe not by anybody's fault — a lot of them happen ... just through neglect.
"I feel like I'm kind of doing a favor by saving the place, saving the history of it."
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