Warship Cemetery, France, 2012. This boat was the largest military boat in the water. (Henk van Rensbergen)

Henk van Rensbergen’s been visiting and photographing abandoned places for a long time now. It helps that he’s an airline pilot, allowing him to spend time in cities he might not otherwise visit.

The 45-year-old photographer shoots these places to bring back to life “a piece of forgotten human history,” he told weather.com. “I feel like an explorer rediscovering, like an archeologist who delves into our own past,” he added. “The buildings that I get into, usually I don’t start making photos straightway. I sit down, listen, soak up the atmosphere and look around, try to get a feel of what the building is trying to tell me.”

He’s had plenty of adventures and mishaps along this journey. In one abandoned factory, van Rensbergen ran into looters, iron thieves out to make a score. They saw each other around enough that he eventually became friendly with them. Another time, in trying to photograph abandoned military ships, he was forced to use a sleeping mattress as a floating device — holding all his expensive camera equipment — when the dinghy he was on sprung a leak.

Van Rensbergen’s a cautious observer, plotting his course in the least intrusive way. “I always take great care to not invade someone’s privacy, to not break or steal anything,” he said, “to only enter places that are abandoned and neglected.”

It could be two years or 50 since the last of the inhabitants left. What matters to van Rensbergen is showcasing buildings and places that could easily be forgotten. “It’s always about the human presence that’s gone but that still has left traces,” he said.

The pilot has been to and taken pictures of countless places. The slideshow above highlights just a few, selected for their ability to tell a story. To see van Rensbergen’s complete collection, visit his website.

MORE FROM WEATHER.COM: An Abandoned Stockyard Left to Nature (PHOTOS)

The abandoned Lancaster Stockyards in Lancaster, Pa. (Matthew Christopher)