CircleCount helps you better understand Google+

2013-05-22 20:55:03 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 28 +1s)

Hug me
Tales from the garden - Home

I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees. 
―  Pablo Neruda

I’ll be away shooting a jazz festival, so I won’t be around here for a few days. Take care and see you soon!

• 
#AlienAbductionFriday | +Alex Lapidus +Karl Geiger Jr +Karl Geiger +Michele Cornelius +Heiko Mahr +Jon Beall 
#QuirkyNature | +Carissa Braun 
#LowKeyThursday | +Bartek Siębab   

#Photography | #PortraitPhotography | #NikonShooters | #MonochromeWorld / +Monochrome World | #HQSPNonNaturePhotos / +HQSP Non-Nature Photos | #PixelWorld / +Alberto Carreras | #BreakfastClub / +Gemma Costa | #10000photographersaroundtheworld and #10000photographersBWmonochrome / +Robert SKREINER and +dietmar rogacki | +Promote Photography / +Nikola Nikolski | #treephotography | #tree | #treetuesday... more »

2013-05-22 18:39:22 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 15 +1s)

The Coney Island Mermaid is endangered!

One of my favorite all-time cultural events is the Coney Island Mermaid Parade.  It brings together virtually every artist, oddball, and freak in the New York area for a wonderful day celebrating this hallowed and depraved corner of New York with all of the wonderful Mermaids and Mermen who show up.  But this year, the parade's in jeopardy; flooding has critically damaged the first floor of Coney Island USA, which sponsors the parade, and the show won't go on unless they can raise some money in the next few weeks.

To that end, I'm donating the first $100 or 50% of open-edition profit - whichever is higher - from my "Abandoned Islands of NYC" eBay print auction to this cause.  So if you've considered buying one of my prints but have been holding back - now you can buy one that part of the proceeds will goto... more »

2013-05-22 14:06:08 (5 comments, 1 reshares, 28 +1s)

Rose window in Catholic chapel on Hart Island, NYC's Potter's Field
Print currently available in my eBay auction here: http://goo.gl/WtpBz

In addition to the Potter's Field, which claims most of Hart Island off the coast of the Bronx in NYC, there were several other facilities running on the island - an asylum for insane women, a boys' workhouse, a drug treatment program that was praised by John Lennon and Yoko Ono.  All would have made use of this Catholic chapel, elegantly appointed with the rose window seen here from the choir loft.  What's almost inexplicable are the two unexploded grenades sitting on the milk crate in front of the rose window - needless to say, when I saw the word "grenade" on one of the canisters, I kept my distance.  I wonder who put them there, and why...

2013-05-20 18:43:17 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 7 +1s)

This is what I've been up to recently: New blog post on the Ellis Island Baggage & Dormitory Building!  Did you know that this building - built as a detention center for undesirable immigrants - was later an internment camp that primarily held European "enemy aliens"? All this and more in the article!

2013-05-20 14:56:34 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 19 +1s)

Intentional overexposures can be fun.

Until the photo gallery problems are sorted, I'll likely be posting a bunch of weird stuff.  Prepare thyself.

2013-05-19 19:11:05 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

After the success of my experimental print sale through eBay, I let my blog's readers vote on what the theme of the next eBay print sale should be.  They overwhelmingly voted for "Abandoned Islands of NYC", and so I have just listed 25 new prints from North Brother Island, Ellis Island, and Hart Island - including a new giant limited edition of this, one of my favorite photographs that I've ever taken.

2013-05-18 19:39:30 (11 comments, 1 reshares, 18 +1s)

So how'd you spend your Saturday morning?

Today, thanks to a tip from a reader of my blog, I attended a historical tour of the Willard State Hospital campus in Romulus, NY.  Among the sites I was allowed to enter and photograph were the Superintendent's House, the Morgue, the Power Plant, and Hadley Hall - which contains a theatre and bowling alley.  Sadly, the tour did not include any of the three miniature Kirkbride buildings that are abandoned on the campus.  This is the 1872 Maples building - my favorite of the three, and also arguably the one in best shape - Pines has much more floor collapse, and Edgemere is basically a death trap at this point.  It was nice to be able to get a shot off of the exterior in any case!

2013-05-17 16:48:13 (3 comments, 5 reshares, 57 +1s)

Happy Birthday Christian!

On one hand, I don't really want to be sharing photos again until G+ fixes its albums so that I can share them in the context of the proper body of work.  On the other hand, it's my #TuesDecay  co-curator +Christian Gruner's birthday, so I had to put up something.  So here's a re-share of the small classroom on the first floor of the Forst Building at Trenton State Hospital.

2013-05-16 17:30:49 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 41 +1s)

Detox cage

When the tuberculosis pavilion on North Brother Island was converted for use as a court-ordered drug rehab for juvenile offenders back in the 1950s, the detox procedure was rather simple, and rather medieval; patients were tossed into a room such as this, with a rubber mattress and a bucket to relieve themselves in, and left to sweat the heroin out of their system for several days.  Medications to ameliorate the withdrawal symptoms were only given if the patient was in a life-threatening state.  Otherwise, they were left to deal with it all, under the belief that this would help prevent relapse.  In order to make sure the room was escape proof and damage-resistant, heavy metal screens were installed over the windows, and steel plates over the doors.  The doors were locked with giant bolts, and the single opening panel on the screen with windows overlooking the island securedwit... more »

2013-05-15 14:01:07 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 73 +1s)

#WordlessOnWednesday #WordlessWednesday

2013-05-14 14:08:03 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 28 +1s)

Light leaks in through lath

for #TuesDecay from +Jean-Claude Dahn, +Christian Gruner & myself

Coming across this scene for the dozenth time, I was blown away on a warm day in May about 5 years ago to see the contrast in lighting conditions in the heavily water-damaged bathroom in the male wards at Hudson River State Hospital.  The room was about equally illuminated by light from the small window, and light coming in through the spaces between the lath in the ceiling, where water had removed almost all of the plaster and much of the roof above.  I hear tell that this floor is no longer accessible - what used to be a somewhat nerve-jangling jump from a staircase to the floor is now impossible, as more of the floor has fallen away.  But I'm glad to have seen this scene when I did.

2013-05-14 04:50:20 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 18 +1s)

Twilight through the Fallen Oculus

For #TuesDecay, curated by +Christian Gruner, +Jean-Claude Dahn & myself

In a scene from the only original residence on Admiral's Row - the row of stately officer's mansions on the Brooklyn Navy Yard - deemed worth saving, twilight filters in through a fallen oculus above the grand stairwell in Quarters B.  Along with the Timber Shed, this is the only building of the 11 that is slated to be saved - the rest will be meeting with the wrecking ball, even though two independent architectural firms - Beardsley Design and Crawford & Stearns - deemed 9 of the 11 to be sound, level, and plumb.  Standing under this hollow structure, it was hard not to reflect on the fact that this building was once home to Commodore Matthew Perry, and that hundreds of distinguished officers had called these mansions home - and now, they were justca... more »

2013-05-13 13:46:08 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 29 +1s)

Deathbed Visitation

In 2007, the State of New York decided with little fanfare to rip the century-old rear wing additions off of Utica State Hospital, the first public asylum building in the state.  Catching wind of this, I planned a trip, but it was too late for the East Wing; it had been reduced to rubble by the time I arrived at the hospital.  The West Wing was still standing, abated and ready for demolition.  It was a beautiful and harmonious addition to the 1843 National Historic Landmark main building; it echoed the architecture beautifully, down to the skylights on the top floors, and the ornate details such as this arch connecting two seemingly unremarkable rooms inside the building.  But like a deathbed visitation, the building was gaunt and weak.  The paint and asbestos had been stripped, bagged, and cleaned, leading to the conspicuous absence of dust and debris seen here. Eve... more »

2013-05-12 18:22:20 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 47 +1s)

A Natural Diptych

It's a challenge to create dynamic natural diptychs in abandoned buildings; usually there's some confounding factor, and something just doesn't work.  And for this reason above all others, I'm frequently experimenting with the concept - might not always work, but I always get better at it, and who doesn't love a good challenge?  I consider this among the finest of my attempts; shot in the early morning light in the Forst building at Trenton State Hospital, the tone, EV and character of the doorframe which divides the scene gives the diptych an organic feel that is usually lacking from attempts such as these.  Usually, I spend more time finding fault with my work than being proud of it; in this case, I can say that despite one little flaw that I'm not about to point out, I'm very proud of this piece, and that's a great feeling.

2013-05-17 03:45:37 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 47 +1s)

WYSIWYG film during a dramatic sunset on the violent ward

Yesterday I wrote about a great experience I had shooting a roll of low-contrast portrait film on an overcast day to enhance the muted and calm feel of the building.  Playing around with different emulsions in different lighting conditions was one of my favorite parts of shooting film; finding the right combination could yield amazing results, while choosing the wrong mix could leave you with a photograph you just knew was lacking.

One of my favorite emulsions was what I called "WYSIWYG film" - Agfa Optima 100, sadly discontinued in 2005.  It was neither muted nor dramatic in its contrast & color saturation, and had exceptionally accurate color rendition.  What You See is What You Get.  When I shot the Salmon building at Norwich State Hospital - the violent ward building for forensic commitments - in thesum... more »

2013-05-11 14:12:29 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 44 +1s)

The irony of fire and water

When the second New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum was constructed in 1875 to ease the overcrowding of the facility at Trenton, it was adorned with a beautiful and ornate mansard roof housing the attic.  Dormer windows peeked out over the well-manicured grounds, and ornate spired cupolas stood in the center and at each end of each ward.  The finished building was truly a sight to behold.  However, in 1929 and 1930, a series of three fires attributed to employee carelessness ripped through the attics, destroying them - and the roof - entirely.  Already in a state of budgetary crisis, the state decided not to replace the attic or the ornate roof - the building was capped off after the top ward floor with a utilitarian roof supported by cinderblocks where bricks had fallen in.

The irony of the situation is that, now, after decades of abandonment, theout... more »

2013-05-10 22:22:49 (3 comments, 1 reshares, 47 +1s)

Low-contrast portrait film and an overcast day on the ward

On a day when I'm reorganizing my photos so that I can actually find what I'm looking for, I'm stumbling across a lot of scenes that are nudging me to reminisce.  I remember this overcast day wandering about the Curry Reception Building at Greystone Park State Hospital, demolished over half a decade ago.  It was a pleasant day, neither hot nor cold, and the sky was completely overcast, but with mellow, unthreatening white clouds.  To fit the mood of the day, I loaded up some Kodak 160 NC and went to town capturing parts of the complex, which also included the Cafeteria and Clinic buildings.  Here, at the end of one of the spokes of Curry, there was muted dormitory painted in a blue not so very off from the white of the walls.  With the muted light coming through the windows, and the muted film in my camera, I thinkI di... more »

2013-05-10 16:58:49 (2 comments, 2 reshares, 40 +1s)

It is enough just to have seen.

While creating the best photographs possible is generally one of my goals when venturing into one of the historic abandoned structures I love so much, it would be a lie to say that part of the joy doesn't come from just having been able to see it in person.  In 2007, I had the rare opportunity to see the administrative building of the complex once known as "The Asylum for the Criminally Insane at Matteawan", New York's first dedicated forensic psychiatric campus.  Everything that could go wrong seemed to, photographically - my tripod head broke, my cable release broke, and the winder on my camera wasn't winding properly, meaning that about 2/3 of the shots that I took wound up overlapping on the negative strip and being totally useless.  While not a great shot by any means, this was one of the few salvageable pieces I walked awaywi... more »

2013-05-10 12:49:24 (5 comments, 2 reshares, 35 +1s)

That damn sun / that wonderful sun

In an ideal world for modern ruins photographers, the average day would sound something like this: clear sky from astronomical twilight through an hour after sunrise.  Partly cloudy for a few hours; overcast with dark clouds through the middle of the day again, partly cloudy again for a few more hours.  And then clear again through the golden and blue hours of evening.  It rarely works out that way.  On the day I took this photograph, I was confounded by harsh sunlight for most of the day, and was cursing that damn giant nuclear explosion in the sky for being so bright and unyielding.  But come the sunset, I was suddenly glad for the clear skies - as they allowed me to get a couple of shots with this sort of lighting.  Here, on the top floor of Western State Hospital's DeJarnette building, swept clean in preparation for renovations which stillhave ... more »

2013-05-09 14:00:31 (9 comments, 1 reshares, 48 +1s)

Some thoughts on previsualization

I taught myself photography out of an archaic pre-digital-era tome, titled - or perhaps mistitled - "The Amateur Photographer's Handbook".  Back when this book was first published, even an "amateur" photographer had to be very committed to the craft - even a cheap SLR setup in the middle of the 20th century would be a pretty serious investment, and "amateurs" would still learn all of the technical details of photography - details that few pros learn in this day and age.

Another concept that seems to have fallen along the wayside is previsualization.  In the digital age, you can compose and expose a shot, and tell immediately by chimping the LCD whether you got what you wanted.  This was not the case in the film days, and having learned on film, I still value previsualization.  Basically, the idea is toima... more »

2013-05-08 20:24:49 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 31 +1s)

#WordlessOnWednesday
#WordlessWednesday  

2013-05-08 14:03:35 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 42 +1s)

Train passing an abandoned mill on the old Norfolk & Southern line... HAPPY BIRTHDAY +Gene Bowker!

So a little birdy the bar on the side of my G+ stream tells me it's +Gene Bowker's birthday today - happy birthday friend!  I couldn't think of a more fitting photograph to honor the occasion; Gene was one of the first people I met and bonded with when I joined G+.  Within a few discussions we were trading comments back and forth on the virtues of O. Winston Link's photography of the last steam railroad in America and the beauty of the rail system in general.  Gene's work, particularly in shooting the rails and little piece of Americana, is consistently interesting and thought-provoking; if you're not following him, why not start on his birthday and take a look through some of his work? #happybdaygene  

2013-05-07 14:55:23 (4 comments, 2 reshares, 40 +1s)

View through viewing window in seclusion room door out into violent ward, Middletown State Hospital

For #TuesDecay  from +Jean-Claude Dahn, +Christian Gruner & myself. Print of this photograph currently available as part of a series currently live on eBay: http://goo.gl/WtpBz

This is among the group of photographs that I've taken that I would consider my best; when I took the shot, I selected a low-contrast, low saturation portrait film, and then waited about an hour for the lighting to look just so.  I wanted to capture the feeling of the only view a patient would have from their room in the late-19th century violent ward at Middletown State Hospital, and chose to focus on the door while leaving the violent ward corridor beyond the window slightly out of focus - for this is how it must have appeared to the patients looking out, gaining only murky glances of thegoi... more »

2013-05-06 18:47:39 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 48 +1s)

Blue Chair by the Window

While many of the now-abandoned resort hotels in Sharon Springs stayed in business until the early 2000s, the Hotel Empire - a large structure smack-dab in the middle of town - was abandoned back in 1993.  Time has not been kind to the building; water damage has eaten holes in some of the floors, and the tin ceilings are starting to droop down.  But here, in a quiet room near the top of the structure, a relatively intact room remains, with a quietly decaying blue chair situated next to a window.

2013-05-05 18:35:41 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

By popular demand, I have added 10 smaller, unlimited (open) edition prints to my eBay print sale in addition to the limited edition view of the curved connector hallway at Buffalo State Hospital.  10 shots from different insane asylums - might you like one to grace your walls?

2013-05-05 15:58:56 (2 comments, 2 reshares, 50 +1s)

Water and Stupid Men

Richard Nickel, my hero, and one of the early generation of modern ruins photographers who captured the grandeur of Louis Sullivan's Chicago buildings as the city was systematically destroying them, once remarked that "great architecture has only two natural enemies: water, and stupid men".  Sadly, the 1884 Walker Building at Georgia's Central State Hospital has been hit heavily by both.  In the 1970s, some stupid men decided to abandon the building without putting any effort into mothballing it against the elements; the roof over half of the building - such as this bathroom - is mostly gone.  And water has taken its toll; walking these corridors, one almost feels as if one is walking over moist soil instead of crumbled plaster and rotted wood.  Vegetation grows from this mixture, and rooms such as this bathroom are starting to collapse and fallin ... more »

2013-05-04 18:08:25 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 37 +1s)

On Prisons & Asylums

It has often been remarked that "the prisons are becoming the new asylums", being that the decline of the inpatient psychiatric facility has correlated with an increase of inmates in the prison system diagnosed with mental illness.  Instead of receiving adequate psychiatric care inside a designated facilities, the mentally ill are often caught up in the criminal justice system; in the prisons, they do not receive adequate care and many languish in their illness.  There is a particular sort of mental hospital, originally designated as an "asylum for the criminally insane" and now designated as a "forensic center" that toes the line between mental health care and incarceration.  These forensic wards would hold patients deemed "Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity" and those judged unfit to aid in their own defense at trial. T... more »

2013-05-03 17:07:05 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 33 +1s)

Biological Specimens

You run across some of the strangest things in abandoned insane asylums.  On the upper shelf in a closet in a patient room in the Lincoln ward at Worcester State Hospital, I came across these bacteriological specimen containers.  There was no rational reason for them to be there - this was not a medical building, and a patient's closet wouldn't be a sensible place to store laboratory specimens in any case.  Weirder still, some of the containers were full - including the feces sample in the center of the image.  Somebody took the time to obtain serum and feces samples from a patient, and then left them in a closet on the fourth floor of a ward.  A mystery that will never be solved - Lincoln, as well as the rest of the Worcester wards, was demolished in 2008.

2013-05-02 18:46:53 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 10 +1s)

Ever wanted to own a copy of one of my most distinctive images in a signed, numbered limited edition?  I just put one up for sale on eBay to the highest bidder!  This is the curved connector hallway, now gutted, from Buffalo State Hospital as seen over half a decade ago.  Printed on Kodak Endura, signed, and numbered on verso.

2013-05-02 12:18:45 (4 comments, 1 reshares, 45 +1s)

Hey Prince! You need a shave!

This barber's chair in the Maples Building at Willard State Hospital reminds me of a dark and brooding old Leonard Cohen tune, and thus, I submit it to #LyricallyInspired  from +Jason Jakober, +Amanda Recker & +Tara Romasanta.  Here's a really cool early live version:

I got up some time in the afternoon and I didn't feel like much.
I said to myself "where are you golden boy, where's your famous golden touch?
I thought you knew where all the elephants lie down.
I thought you were the crown prince of all the wheels in Ivory Town.
Look at your body now; there's nothing much to save."
And a bitter voice in the mirror cries out
"Hey prince!  You need a shave!
Now if you can manage to get your trembling fingers to behave,
why don't you try unwrapping a stainlesssteel... more »

2013-05-01 14:42:04 (17 comments, 1 reshares, 70 +1s)

Climbing Up the Walls

Happy #MayDay , comrades!  A day to celebrate the solidarity of workers the world over, celebrated since the Haymarket Massacre of 1886.  Which you too can commemorate by wearing red, greeting your fellow workers as "comrade" (no, you don't have to be a commie, just someone who supports working people), and on G+ posting some red-tinged images!

Gnossienne, pictured here, is an extremely hard-working model.  This photo is a great example of why - she held this pose in an arch in the basement of an abandoned insane asylum for 3.2 seconds without the slightest tremor.  Could you do that?  Would you if you could?  Hats off to hard-working models, among all of the world's working people!

Also for +Niki Aguirre's #WomenWednesday , since I'm also picturing a badass woman.

2013-05-01 00:39:29 (4 comments, 4 reshares, 48 +1s)

During the last strains of daylight

For #TuesDecay from +Jean-Claude Dahn, +Christian Gruner & myself

Timing is everything when taking a photograph inside an abandoned building.  By day, the tea room at the Hotel Columbia is a rather boring looking place; some scattered furniture and a hilariously misspelled sign are the highlights.  But during the last 15 minutes of nautical twilight, it takes on a wonderfully scattered glow; blue light bleeds in from cracks behind boards; a pinkish haze is cast into the room by a streetlight passing through a reddish curtain.  In this light, the room is beautiful, almost completely unlike its gaudy bright daylight counterpart.

2013-04-30 17:11:10 (7 comments, 2 reshares, 38 +1s)

Dentist's Office, US Marine Hospital Memphis

For #TuesDecay, curated by +Christian Gruner, +Jean-Claude Dahn & myself

This image is an experimental composite of two photographs taken by shifting with the Canon 17mm T/S-E lens.  One of the coolest rooms in the US Marine Hospital in Memphis, TN, there was simply no other way to capture both the height and width of the room adequately framed.  It's always wonderful to stumble across an old dental operatory in an abandoned hospital; all the better when it's as well-preserved as the one in this room.  Also notable here are the window in the hallway to left of frame - allowing natural light to penetrate the corridor - and the dental supply room behind.  Special thanks to +Amy Heiden for loaning me the lens so I could try this composite.

2013-04-28 18:05:55 (1 comments, 2 reshares, 35 +1s)

Lounge area behind grand temple, Masonic Lodge 624

Until recently, the Freemasons - a fraternal order founded in the Middle Ages - were the stuff of much conjecture, legend, and lore.  Much of it revolved around a wide-ranging set of conspiracy theories, charging everything from the notion that a radical sect of Masons calling themselves the Illuminati controlled all of the world's banks and governments to the postulate that George Washington himself was not a mason, but rather, was killed and replaced by a Masonic doppelganger who thenceforth ran the country.  More recently, as the popularity of Masonry has declined, a number of books, documentaries, and so on has revealed a much softer story - that the Masons are basically a secret society existing for little purpose other than fraternity, ritual, and charity.  This latter account has been confirmed for me by a buddy that is aMa... more »

2013-04-20 16:14:11 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 64 +1s)

Take it easy.

While much of the furniture in the Maples Building at Willard State Hospital had been removed or piled up to prepare for an auction that apparently never happened, this row of four easy chairs was left in what would originally have been a patient room on the ward.  Just another little reminder of the humanity that once surrounded the former New York State Asylum for the Chronic Insane.

2013-04-19 16:50:03 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 57 +1s)

The optimism of the asylums.

Popular fiction, the media, decades of cinema, and many other sources tend to portray the asylum as a "snake pit" - a place where shackled lunatics howl naked in dimly lit basements, while uncaring ward attendants make light of their situation.  However, the truth of the 19th century asylum was that, as best as it was able, it lived up to its name - the asylum was a place of refuge.  This is reflected in the overall design of the Kirkbride-plan asylums and of the "moral treatment" mentality behind them, and can be seen in specifics - such as this corridor here.  Rather than double-loading the corridor - putting rooms on both sides of the hall - one entire side was given over to 12" tall bays of windows, in order to provide patients with maximum exposure to daylight, which was thought to be therapeutic.  Of course, this doubled thecos... more »

2013-04-18 18:28:30 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 61 +1s)

Nearing sunset at end of corridor in fire-damaged ward, Buffalo State Hospital

Although the entire H. H. Richardson-designed asylum complex in the heart of Buffalo is beautiful, probably the most aesthetically interesting portion is the ward, in which a patient lit a fire in their room in the late 60s or early 70s.  The sprinklers kicked in, and the fire didn't spread, but the thick black smoke clung to the top of the walls, leaving a heavy layer of soot.  This photograph, from the end of the damaged corridor, was taken just before sunset on a lovely day in June, about 5 years ago.

2013-04-10 20:53:40 (20 comments, 3 reshares, 68 +1s)

If I'm empty then I can receive.

Starring the beautiful and talented Gnossienne, for #InspiredByLiterature  from +Susan Marinello:

"Please make me empty, if I'm empty then I can receive, if I can receive it means it comes from somewhere outside of me, if it comes from outside of me I'm not alone! I cannot bear this loneliness."
  --Leonard Cohen, Beautiful Losers

Also for #WindowWednesday  from +Jules Falk Hunter, +Cheryl Cooper, +Simon Davis-Oakley, +J.J. Bentley, +Catherine Furet & +Jason Kowing  & for #WomenWednesday  from the ghost of T, +Lee Daniels, +Niki Aguirre, +Christina Lawrie, +Kerry Murphy & +Athena Carey

2013-04-09 14:09:13 (8 comments, 0 reshares, 52 +1s)

Schoolfield Mill is falling down.

For #TuesDecay  from +Christian Gruner, +Jean-Claude Dahn & myself.

By far the largest employer in Danville, VA - the last capital of the Confederacy - for nearly a century, Dan River Inc. wound down most of its business operations in town nearly a decade ago.  Over a period of years, its mills went abandoned, forced out of production by cheap textiles from India and China flooding the market.  It is unknown when this basement shop in the #1 mill of the Schoolfield Complex was abandoned; following the clues from other parts of the complex, it seems likely that some time in the early 2000s workers were given about a week's notice that their division would be terminated, and then the site was simply left vacant.  Now, bulldozers are tearing apart the complex slowly; the lovely old hardwood floors and masonry are being recovered tooffs... more »

2013-04-07 14:49:24 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 17 +1s)

Added photos to The Selfy Sunday Project.

2013-04-05 17:24:23 (5 comments, 5 reshares, 74 +1s)

Connector hallway between wards, Grafton State Hospital

Originally a farm colony for nearby Worcester State Hospital, Grafton opened in 1903 and closed in the early 70s.  Although portions of the complex were adaptively reused by Tufts University and a state Job Corps program, a vast complex in the middle of the woods remains abandoned 40 years later.  Pictured here is a hallway connecting two of the ward buildings in this complex.

2013-04-02 12:37:40 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 55 +1s)

#TuesDecay is BACK!
Curated by +Jean-Claude Dahn, +Christian Gruner & myself

After a brief hiatus, Google+'s premier theme for all manmade things derelict and forgotten has returned!  Please remember to circle and +mention +TuesDecay in your posts, and follow the stream for the best in decay photography from around the world!

To welcome the theme back, here is a photograph I took this past weekend in the auditorium of the Sharon Springs Masonic Lodge, with the gracious permission of one of the owners.  Largely destroyed by fire in 1911, Lodge No. 624 began rebuilding, and reopened in 1914 pretty much as pictured here.  An interesting feature to note is the fact that not only the ceiling, but the walls as well are covered in pressed tin - presumably as a barrier against future fires.  The lower level of the building featured this auditorium; upstairs, the grandmeeti... more »

2013-04-01 14:33:43 (8 comments, 3 reshares, 67 +1s)

Ward corridor, Greystone Park State Hospital

The 1876 Kirkbride building at Greystone Park State Hospital, designed by noted architect Samuel Sloan, was recently determined to bear the weighty price tag of $110-125 million dollars if it is to be renovated and put back into use for another purpose.  Although this in itself does not necessarily mean the imminent demolition of this stately building, it is not a good sign for those concerned with the preservation of America's historic asylums.  It is particularly sad because of the rich history of the building - the largest continuous foundation structure in America until the Pentagon was built, Greystone can count folk legend Woody Guthrie amongst its alumni; he was brought in under the assumption that he was inebriated or insane, but was soon diagnosed with Huntington's Chorea.  He called the ward on which he lived Wardy Forty,an... more »

2013-03-31 16:25:58 (9 comments, 0 reshares, 45 +1s)

Solarium door at dusk, Hotel Columbia

The Hotel Columbia was one of several structures in the town of Sharon Springs, NY, that was purchased by a South Korean investment consortium known as Sharon Springs, Inc.  They swept in with money and lofty promises about fixing up the dilapidated structures, offering to bolster the current renaissance the town is undergoing.  Unfortunately, their promises turned out to be grounded in nothing; after spinning the wheels of the people of the town with grandiose plans to renovate the Adler Hotel and the Imperial Baths, those plans disappeared in favor of a plan to build a 10+ story structure on the ground where the Adler now sits, destroying that building in the process.  Of course, they hadn't bothered to run these plans by the town planning boards, which have a three-story maximum build height; they also didn't bother to take into accountthat... more »

2013-03-29 17:13:27 (16 comments, 1 reshares, 89 +1s)

Dresden School

Before I hit the road for some weekend rust-n-dust building camping, I wanted to make a post in honor of +J. Rae Chip's birthday today - and since she's previously requested more of my B&W model photography, I figured this would be the perfect thing to post.  Happy birthday, friend!

Model: Rhea Griffin

Also throwing this one in for #FilmNoirFriday  from +Thorn Button, +Kel Hayner & +Paul Wright 

2013-03-29 14:48:38 (8 comments, 1 reshares, 46 +1s)

Ceiling detail, 2nd floor chapel, Convent of St. Mary

Zipping north on the shore of the Hudson River with +Amy Heiden one day, something on the top of a mountain caught our eyes - what appeared to be an old monastery or convent.  We decided to go investigate; we were just freestyling anyhow, looking for cool things to shoot.  Upon arriving at the top of the mountain, we realized that two buildings - the old main convent building and the church - were abandoned.  Delighted, we decided to have a look.  Upon entering the convent, we were at first very disappointed - it appeared to have been completely gutted as part of a stalled renovation; all that was left was the skeleton of the interior - and one walled-off room with doors.  Opening those doors, I was overjoyed to find this chapel intact, with intricate gold-leaf paint that predated the First World War covering the walls.  The tripup the... more »

2013-03-28 17:15:17 (16 comments, 2 reshares, 84 +1s)

Flowing down the stairs.

Featuring the lovely and talented Gnossienne.

For #StairsThursday curated by +Véronica Riboulot +Stairs Thursday 

2013-03-28 00:56:18 (4 comments, 0 reshares, 9 +1s)

Since this auction is halfway through at this point, with under 5 days remaining, I figured I'd repost this in case anybody missed it.  The final impression of one of my limited edition 16x24" prints is up on eBay, numbered (5/5) and signed on verso.  At present, bidding is at $100, or 2/15 of the $750 I would ask as a retail price, so if you're interested in purchasing the last large copy of this that will ever be produced, now's the time to throw your hat in the ring!

2013-03-27 16:05:27 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 53 +1s)

#WordlessOnWednesday  

2013-03-26 15:17:12 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 45 +1s)

#TuesDecay returns next week!

After a brief hiatus, #TuesDecay  returns next week, now co-curated by +Christian Gruner, +Jean-Claude Dahn & myself!  So mark your calendars, and get your best decay photos ready to go - we're one week out!

Pictured here is the stage and screen of the Victory Theatre in Holyoke, MA, as seen from the mezzanine.  Named in honor of the recent victory in World War I, as commemorated by the eagle medallion in the proscenium, the theatre was in operation for 60 years, from 1919 until its final showing in 1979.  Abandoned for three decades, new life is now coming to the Victory - it is currently being rehabilitated, and should open its doors once again in 2014.