An empty room in the North Annex at Mayview State Hospital, a Pennsylvania asylum constructed over 100 years prior to its demolition earlier this year.
Photo: "Lost in Light"
Dawn sneaks into the bottom floor of a patient wing in the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum.
Photo: "Interlaced"
An upper floor at the former Waldo Hotel, a Beaux-Arts style hotel constructed in West Virginia in the early 1900's.
Photo: "A Wet Sunset"
Sunset, Santa Cruz County
I shot this image last night on a quick trip south to meet up with a few friends for a sunset shoot. This image was shot moments before getting drenched by wave spray as it snuck out of the crack in the foreground.
Photo: "This Became Their Home"
While walking down the corridor in a tubercular building at Mayview State Hospital, this particular scene caught my eye. On this patient door, plastic flowers had been affixed with scotch tape near the crooked name placard. I couldn't help but wonder when they were put there and by whom...
Photo: "Spies"
View of nurses quarters from a patient room inside a former U.S. Marine Hospital in Tennessee.
Photo: "Night Approaches"
Night approaches inside a dayroom of the North Annex Building at Mayview State Hospital in Pennsylvania.
Sadly, this complex is being demolished after over 100 years of service to the mentally ill.
Photo: "Zig Zag"
Overcast skies. 55 second exposure. Shot with a 10 stop ND filter.
During my trip to Portland last weekend, a few of the local photographers took me up to one of their favorite spots, Zig Zag Falls. As a California native, who hasn't been to the Pacific Northwest sinceI was a kid, I can honestly say I immediately fell in love with the greenery and the stunning fall colors.
Photo: "Cooling Tower"
In 1977, the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS) began construction of two nuclear power plants. It was the largest nuclear power plant project at the time and would contain five nuclear reactors; two 1,250 megawatt pressurized water reactors would be constructed at the Satsop plant.
After the project began, construction costs were nearly tripling the original budget and would end up costing around $24 billion, so in 1982, $3 billion into the project, construction was halted. One reactor was 75% completed; the other 16% done.
Exploring a Nuclear Power Plant
Today, I had the opportunity to explore a new type of site, one I have been longing to explore for years.
The construction of this nuclear power plant was halted in the 1980's, due to a lack of funding, and was never completed.
This is an iPhone diptych from the site.
Photo: "Blushing Seaweed"
An old bus sits on a trailer at a Northern California bus maintenance yard.
(Night. Full moon. Lit by ambient light, flashlight in the interior as well as the exterior.)
Photo: "Upper Hallway"
Upper floor in the DeJarnette Building, constructed in 1913, at a former Virginia State asylum.
Photo: "Bulldozed"
As a follow-up to this morning's post about the demolition of Mayview State Hospital, here's an image of a bulldozer parked outside one of the tubercular wards. The building in the distance is the North Annex, pictured in this morning's post.
Photo: "Central Staircase"
Central staircase inside the North Annex building at Mayview State Hospital.
The Mayview campus contained 39 buildings and was constructed on 335 acres. At the hospital's peak in the 1930's, this campus was home to over 4,000 patients.
The hospital closed in 2008, after 115 years of service. The state sold the property in 2010, for just over $500,000, to a company with a plan to turn the property into a "high amenity regional business park."
During this visit in April 2012, many of the buildings had already been demolished.
Photo: "Faded Lines"
In the late 1700's, an infirmary was established for the mentally ill in Charleston, but it wasn't until the 1800's that the state recognized the mental health care movement.
In 1820, South Carolina State Legislature agreed to build the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum and school for the deaf and dumb. At this time, South Carolina was the second state to receive funding for the mentally ill, second to Virginia.
Plans were drawn up by renowned architect, Robert Mills and in 1822, construction began. Six years later, in 1828, the first patient was admitted.