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Off-Season: Abandoned holiday destinations are tinged with a sense of melancholy

If you've often wondered what holiday resorts might look like during the quieter winter months, then a new series by photographer Fabien Fourcaud will satisfy your curiosity.

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All images courtesy of Fabien Fourcaud

All images courtesy of Fabien Fourcaud

He has not only pondered the thought but has gone one step further by creating his Off-Season series, which documents abandoned towns built for the purpose of tourism.

He explains: "If the concept of 'territory' means a mode of relationship between a group of men and a space, what happens when a country ceases to be busy, used, practised? Once a year, the resorts built exclusively for the attention of vacationers find themselves abandoned by their users."

The empty photographs all appear to have something missing. From the drained swimming pools to the deserted shops, it seems a holiday destination without visitors is a place without a purpose. To see more by Fourcaud, visit www.fabienfourcaud.com.

A concrete pier structure with white support columns stands empty on a sandy beach with footprints visible in the foreground
A weathered concrete bunker structure with a brick chimney stands alone on an empty sandy beach beside overgrown dunes under a pale sky
Vast, misty beach landscape with flat sand and still water under overcast grey sky in Fabien Fourcaud's Off-Season series
Modern holiday resort buildings with yellow accents stand empty on a deserted street in Fabien Fourcaud's Off-Season series
Sandy dunes with marram grass and a narrow stream running through an abandoned seaside resort during the off-season
Concrete utility pole with power lines beside a windowless industrial building with chain-link fence in an empty, overcast landscape
Wooden beach groynes stretching across pale sand and shallow water, with marram grass-covered dunes rising behind in an empty seaside landscape
White kiosk with burgundy and white striped awning and furled red flags standing empty on a concrete plaza beside a metal railing at an abandoned seaside resort
Abandoned fairground with deflated red and white inflatable attractions scattered across an empty concrete surface beneath overcast sky
White wall with horizontal ventilation grille above a post topped with a blue cloth, casting a shadow in an abandoned holiday resort
A yellow basketball hoop stands in shallow water on an empty beach, with caravans and beach huts visible along the shoreline in the distance
Empty car park with curved pathways, street lamp and grassy verges overlooking sandy hills and water in an abandoned holiday resort
Vast, empty beach at low tide with a few distant figures in the middle distance under an overcast sky
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