Ben Stevens captures haunting beauty in abandoned casinos, from untouched roulette tables to decaying slot machines. (Image: Ben Stevens)

We all have a hobby, some more exotic than others. How about photographing abandoned funeral homes and casino locations? That is exactly what Ben Stevens, from the United Kingdom, does as a hobby.

Ben travels the world in search of ghost ships and abandoned buildings, some of which still have all of the equipment in situ—roulette tables, slot machines, and even all the casino chips in one case. 

We had seen Ben’s work online and wanted to catch up with this man who has what could be considered a weird appetite for the decaying and morbid. 

Ben, how long have you been a photographer? Is this your primary job? 

"No, I simply pursue it as a hobby. I used to work in medicine but I'm taking a break from it for a while. I work in pharmaceuticals but no, my photography is the hobby. It doesn't really make much money for me. I spend far more than I make. At times, I will take a weekend trip to explore a new location, capture a video, and take some photos. It’s a lot of fun and I've been doing it now, probably for about 5 years.” 

Is it always abandoned places you focus on?  

“Always abandoned yes. I started about 5 years ago. I used to predominantly photograph houses and hotels. I gradually lost interest in that. Now I photograph a lot of medical places, like funeral homes and hospitals.

"The casino ship had been on my radar for about a year. I wanted to do it because it's just so different.

"What was incredible with that was that the chips were still there; it was only the money that you could use on the ship. Thousands of pounds worth of chips, and all the safes remained intact.

Untouched roulette tables still has thousands of pounds in chips. (Image: Ben Stevens)

“I'm not really a gambler but I liked seeing the blackjack tables and the fruit machines that weren’t connected. It was amazing to find something like that on a ship. It was just docked up and left. Obviously, there was nothing in them—no money. The restaurants were all getting mouldy. I don't think you can save something like that. I think it would cost too much money."

How do you gain access to something like that? Do you sneak on board?   

“Yeah. I just went early in the morning because the dock actually had boats on which people lived. I climbed on the back of the ship, found an open door and just went in. I'm not the only person to do it. A few people have done it, like YouTubers. It was amazing finding something like that. It was just so stifling hot on there. It was a big ship.” 

An open door on an abandoned ship leads to remnants of life. (Image: Ben Stevens)

Did you feel the echoes of the past? Do you imagine how this casino must have been just buzzing with all these people?  

“Oh, absolutely. I mean something like that. You can imagine the fanfare, the noise, and the machines it would have. It would have had thousands of people on board. Then, just to go completely silent. That’s like any place that has been abandoned. If I do a hospital, you think wow! This would have been a hub of activity, then there is this complete silence. That’s part of the beauty of the hobby. You get to see places that are forgotten. It’s kind of like a museum.

Once full of noise and life, now silent and abandoned – capturing the striking contrast of a once-busy place left behind. (Image: Ben Stevens)

“When you go into a house, you'd have clothes in the wardrobe and food in the cupboard. You think people sat here and had dinner and talked, and now it’s deserted; it’s eerie.”  

Did you ever encounter ghosts?  

“I did a funeral home in Indiana. It felt creepy but no, I've never had anything like that. Some places are a bit creepy, and you think, What if I'm not the only one in here? What if there's a homeless person? Most of the time it's just a lot of fun. The other thing is that because it's abandoned, like the funeral home and the hospital, these are places that were left as they are.” 

In the real world, you would never have been allowed to go in there and photograph it in operation in full swing, would you?  

“Yes, I do a lot of funeral homes and I love the prep room where they prepare the body. I've done probably over a hundred of them. You’re right, these are places where you have a sign on the door, and you always know that's the door. It says, private, no entry, keep out. This is a bit I'm about to see that not everybody’s going to see unless you work in the industry. You can't go into these places and take photographs when they're active.”  

Fukushima is a place that's still associated with a lot of uncertainty and risk since the disaster. What was it like for you to be there? How do you navigate concerns over safety—both the radiation and the general condition of the sites?  

“One thing I should do is wear a mask, and I still don't. A lot of places I go to have mould on the walls so I’m pretty careful. They're starting to move people back into Fukushima so it's not as highly radioactive as it was 5 years ago. There are a lot of places you can go in as long as you're not in them, for, you know, a month at a time.

"A couple of sites in Fukushima I didn't go in just purely because the radioactive level is still quite high. You've got to be prepared. Small things like good footwear, wearing gloves, for example. Always wash your hands when you come out. Don't spend too long in there."

Fukushima also seems to have its own strange charm. What stood out to you about the casinos there? 

“Yes, there were some weird things going on in there. I think you could bring your lover there and then do a bit of gambling on the side.

"There are other casinos I've done in Fukushima as well. Some of these places are huge. You'll go in and it’s like the size of an Ikea. It's just wall to wall with fruit machines, gambling machines, and arcades. It was a place where you just went, and you'd just play machines all night.

"It would have been a hub of activity, and that still had all the silver coins. I don't know if you saw my post had all the silver coins in the trays. You had everybody saying I would have taken the money. You can, but it's probably radioactive so good luck with that.” 

What made you go to Japan?  

The good thing about Japan is a lot of the abandoned stuff, even outside of Fukushima. There's no vandalism, because they're very superstitious. They believe in spirits. When somewhere is closed, even the houses, they just leave them be.

"Japan was amazing. There are casinos, hotels, theme parks, houses, entire neighbourhoods that have been abandoned, and you've still got the cars in the driveway with the keys in the ignition, you know. It's like the weirdest thing. I think if this were England, all those cars would have been stripped and sold within a day.”

With so many iconic casinos around the world, what's still on your bucket list? Are there any legendary spots you've missed that you’d like to explore before they're gone? 

“I need to get back to Japan and I'd like to do Russia as well. I'm actually going back to the States in a week and a half. I don't think I'll find it in the casino, but you know there are strip clubs, apparently. There are loads of people who do strip clubs in America. So yeah, obviously, some more casinos and stuff.

"I know that there's a couple of really good casinos in Las Vegas to get to as well. One I wish I did; I think it was called the Crazy Horse or the Lucky Horse. That was owned by the mob. But that's now been demolished. I didn't get to do that one, but that would have been a really good one.” 

Abandoned slot machines on a deserted casino ship are left and forgotten. (Image: Ben Stevens)

There's a lot of implosions planned in some places, like the Tropicana in Las Vegas for instance. Would you like to have gone in and documented it before? Do you find that it is a bit of a travesty that there's nobody documenting this moment in history?  

“I think you're right. I don't know too many explorers in Vegas. I know a few out of California. Let's be honest. You can't ask permission for these places. I'd imagine the ones in Vegas have probably got security.

"It's going to be probably quite hard. If it were me, I would just put on a hard hat and high-vis and just walk in. It would be very good to see. I guess over the next few years there's going to be more casinos and stuff being vacated and being torn down. I remember the Flamingo and that's looking a bit tired now.” 

Have you been in any form of trouble for going to any of these places? Have you been arrested?  

“I tend to go in the dark, get inside, and wait for it to be light. I tend to generally go on my own, or just with a friend or two. I don't do groups. I got caught when me and someone else from England and some Americans went into a house in Pennsylvania. That was only because we parked in the driveway, which was idiotic. It was in the middle of the sticks, so there was nowhere else to park. 

Not all left untouched—some slot machines show signs of destruction. (Image:  Ben Stevens)

“The police came, and they fined us $200. That’s the only time out of 100 I've ever been caught. Usually, as long as there's no damage getting in and you're careful and you're quiet, you can generally get away with it. Trespassing in England isn't an offence; it's a civil matter. I think it's a lot to do with your attitude and how you are with them as well.”  

The people who are looking at your stuff, are they sentimentalists?  

“A lot of them like the places because they say to me, I'd be too afraid to go, but I can see them through pictures or that they have visited before. I've done a couple of hospitals. I've done a couple of diners in America. People reach out to me, saying, I worked here 20 years ago or you get some people that aren't particularly friendly.

“Some say this is breaking and entering, and you're thinking, Well, actually, I went through an open window so no, it's not. In anything you do, you're always going to get people that disagree with what you are doing.” 

Do you need anything special to photograph the abandoned casinos? 

“I just use my phone, and a lot of people think that's crazy. I've never had a camera for a couple of reasons. If you are trying to get in somewhere or get out quick, if you take a camera and a tripod, it takes a lot longer. A lot of phones, I think, are just as good as a camera. You're less conspicuous. I've always used my phone, and I think my pictures are okay. I could just put a phone in my pocket and run out the back door.” 

How do you find these places like the Casino Ship and the Fukushima Casino?  

A lot of places I get given because everybody's in this community. People share places. I'm very fortunate to have people that trust me. They know I'm not going to go and destroy a place, and whatever, give it to a thousand people. You can go into Chicago. and think, Is there a funeral home here? Just go on Google, put in ‘Funeral Home’, Chicago, and nine times out of ten, you're going to find something online.

“I look at the street view. Okay, that looks like it is still there. Let me go and look at it. It’s going to be empty. It's going to be repurposed, or it's going to be great with everything still left and abandoned.” 

I guess you're like a child in a sweetshop. Do you have a plan beforehand?  

“It's quite random, but if I do it, for example, if I do a funeral home, I would always go to the prep room, because that's what I'm there to see. I always think I'd rather get my most important photos first, in case I get caught. So that is the bit that I do first, like with the casino boat.

“The first thing I went to do was all the machines on the second floor. I thought, Well, who's going to catch me on a boat? You always think, Let me get the most important shots, and then, when I've got the most important shots, then I'll go around and I'll get my close-up, so I get different angles, and I'll be a bit more relaxed.” 

How do you go through the editing process you select? 

“Instagram allows you to upload up to 20 pictures, which is good. I think it only used to be nine. I don't take a thousand pictures; I'll go into a place sometimes and only take ten or 15. Then I'll always think, Oh, I should have taken that, or I should have got that angle. I think I just take the images that I think people want to see first, something to kind of capture their attention.

“I'll try and do a little write-up underneath my pictures as well, and then people will scroll through and see the rest of them. I remember I put the casino on there, and I thought, Oh, this will do amazing, but it's still on 150,000, and while that sounds a lot, it’s incredibly low. 

“You think how could that not have gotten in the millions? Then you might put up a funeral home and it gets 1.2 million in a day, and you're like, Well, the boat is so much more interesting, you know.” 

Do you ever take anything as a memento?  

“I took a couple of chips from the ship as a souvenir. I always take souvenirs with me. A lot of people say, Oh, you know that's really bad. But, for example, I did a funeral home in Upstate New York in January, and I took a little death certificate and a toe tag. I put them in a glass frame.

“I think as long as you don't take stuff that people are going to notice. There were thousands of chips who's going to care. I would never take things that's going to affect people's pictures. A little trinket or something cool.

“I've been in some hospitals, and there's been the equipment that's left. I remember there was a photocopier, and somebody said, you know, that's worth about £10,000. Nobody ever took it, but you just think, God, if that boat was in England, people would have taken the machines because they're worth money. I did that boat at the end of June and people are still going there. People have been going for 2 years, and it's still the same.” 

There are lots of abandoned casinos in America, with a couple in Eastern Europe. Will you be going there? 

“Yeah, I'd like to go to Russia. There are some good places there, but I don't think you can go there. There’s a couple of casinos. There's one that actually gets covered in snow inside because there's a hole in the roof. I'd like to do that maybe next year.” 

With the incredible content you create from your explorations, have you found any ways to turn your passion into a source of income or is it more about sharing the experience with others? How do you balance the enjoyment of the hobby with the potential of monetising it?

“I've got a TikTok account where you can see my videos. I also have a website and an Instagram page where I sell my prints on. My prints are really cheap. They're £5 and I get an influx of people who buy loads, and then I get nothing for ages, or I get people adding to the basket, not checking out. I don't do it for the money; I just do it because I enjoy it.”