Not Every Photograph I Take Is Artistic, But That's OK

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Sometimes while photographing abandoned buildings, I snap images strictly for documentation purposes.

In this case, Mayview State Hospital in Pennsylvania was already in the process of being demo'd when I saw the campus for the first time. For that reason, I shot more building exteriors and photos out windows than I have in the past. In particular, the tubercular wards on the campus were some of the oldest remaining buildings and I felt they were worth a few shots.

In a few decades nothing will remain of this former asylum, but hopefully images like this will help people see what once was. 

Photo: "Dusk to Dawn"

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Blue hour inside a day room of Building F, a former tuberculosis ward, at Mayview State Hospital. 

Mayview State Hospital was constructed in 1892 and it wasn't until 7 years later that a first physician was assigned to the "insane" department. In 1909, a hospital was built on the grounds, stemming from the need to treat the patients there due to mental illness. The hospital's last building closed in 2008 and demolition began in the spring of 2012. 

Photo: "The Last Dawn"

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Dawn inside Building F at Mayview State Hospital in Pennsylvania. 

Mayview State Hospital was a psychiatric hospital constructed near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1892. It remained in operation for over 100 years before the last building closed in 2008. Currently the hospital is undergoing demolition and many of the buildings have already been torn down.