NEVADA, USA: The teetering bus shell stands out against the Milky Way. Shaun Astor/Mediadrumimages

By Alex Jones

 

INCREDIBLE pictures of an OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD art installation near the mysterious Area 51 site in Nevada have been revealed.

Stunning shots show a rusted bus precariously balanced on its nose in front of a celestial lightshow, a brightly graffitied limo balancing on top of an equally psychedelic lorry, and an upturned pick up truck spray painted with various eye-catching portraits.

NEVADA, USA: The curious artwork was installed by a local and an artist who moved ot the area to complete the vision. Shaun Astor/Mediadrumimages

The striking photos were captured by American urban explorer and photographer Shaun Astor, 35, who frequently visits the ‘International Car Forest of the Last Church’, an example of un-commissioned land art outside the town of Goldfield, Nevada.

The site is just a few hours north of glittering Las Vegas in the desert wastelands between the infamous Sin City and Reno.

The vast arid area is the supposed home of the notorious Area 51, a military base often linked with extra-terrestrial activity.

NEVADA, USA: Stacked: A limo and a truck have been colourfullly painted over. Shaun Astor/Mediadrumimages

But for Shaun, the peculiar site is not the result of any alien technology.

“Quite simply, it’s a bunch of upturned cars buried in the desert,” he said matter-of-factly.

“What attracts me to it is that it was an immense amount of work to create this, though very few people know of its existence.

“It was built for the sake of creating something unusual and unique rather than created to help build someone’s name or image as an artist.

NEVADA, USA: Photographer Shaun Astor. Shaun Astor/Mediadrumimages

“All I know about the site is what a short google search has revealed.

“It was created by two guys, a local with the land and resources to construct it, and an artist who was amused by the vision and relocated to the town to partner in making it happen.

“There are no plaques and nothing to really offer information about it.

“The only place to find it are cloudy online accounts and descriptions whose validity isn’t always necessarily accurate.

“There are no signs advertising its whereabouts, despite it lying about 30 seconds off the main road through the town of Goldfield.

NEVADA, USA: The ‘International Car Forest of the Last Church’. located between Las Vegas and Reno. Shaun Astor/Mediadrumimages

“All of which lends a pretty Nevada-esque quality – strange, large beautiful things lying throughout a state that most people breeze through without taking time to find or acknowledge the subtleties that make it beautiful.”

Shaun has always enjoyed pushing the boundaries and photography has helped him in this regard.

“I came into photography through my interest and habit of sneaking into places where I wasn’t supposed to be,” he confessed.

“Whether these were crowded amusement parks that were entered through walking quickly through employee entrances in order to avoid paying admission or abandoned ruins that were historical but generally off limits and sometimes protected by security or long distances from access roads.

Shaun Astor/Mediadrumimages

“I loved being able to access these places and would take pictures on whatever phone or small camera I had, but over time I wanted to be able to present them in a way that others often didn’t, and eventually I got a camera and equipment that allowed for that.

“I look at photography as a challenge, to take a scene and observe and present it in a way that is different than how it may normally be seen.

“Most people stick to the main roads and the beaten path, but it’s always worth looking into what lies beyond that, and worth driving down dirt roads which you may not know where they ultimately end up, to see the things that others tend to miss.”