The Babcock Building at the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum was constructed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style and the footprint resembled a Kirkbride. The building was built in four phases spanning nearly 30 years. The Administration Section, shown here, was among the last sections to be built.
Central State Hospital was once the largest psychiatric facility located in Georgia, within the boundaries of the former state capital. The asylum accepted its first patient in 1842, but overcrowding quickly plagued the hospital.
In 1884, this building was constructed to cope with the expanding patient population and housed white, male convalescent patients.
This military prison in California was constructed in the 1960's and designed to be a short-term residency for inmates, prior to a transfer to Fort Leavenworth.
Tomorrow I'm heading out of town for a few days, so I will see you all next week!
The Mare Island Naval Shipyard contains several hundred buildings and other structures, all erected at various times throughout the 120-year operation and constructed in a variety of architectural styles. Among these structures are the Naval Weapons Station, Marine Barracks, Nuclear Power School and Combat Systems Technical Schools Command, Hospital and Power Plant.
"Idly, up comes the sphere
vibrant daggers pierce, scorching the shadow
ashes on marble, frozen in time
and there, like just before dawn
lies a pile,
humanistic,
quiescent, friable, bend-able form
Hands creep round the mask
and stop."
Sometimes I wish I could escape the real world and get trapped within one of my photographs...
Weston State Hospital operated from 1864 to 1994 in Weston, West Virginia and is recognized as the largest hand-cut masonry building in North America. This Kirkbride was originally designed to house 250 patients, but by the 1950's patient count reached 2,400. Corridors and day rooms became home to patient beds and the conditions were very poor. The hospital closed its doors in 1994 due to changes in the treatment of the mentally ill.
Over the past month or two, I've been trying to add variety to my postings here, showing not only the forgotten world, but also scenes from San Francisco and my travels.
In a few weeks my stream will be flooded with photos of abandoned buildings again because next Thursday, I embark on a week long road trip on the other side of the country, shooting hospitals and industrial sites.
As many of you know, documenting modern ruins has been my first love since I started seriously pursuing photography almost 5 years ago, so it's exciting to think about sharing dozens of new images from these locations with you upon my return.
For now, here's a photo, taken last month during the full moonrise, of another subject I have really enjoyed shooting recently.
This commune was founded in the 1950's and was a destination for artists for decades until 2006.
Inside a small, single-room miner's cabin in Death Valley. This mine opened in 1917 and was was known to have the largest body of commercial-grade ore in the region.
Sunrise at the Mesquite Dunes, Death Valley
Yesterday, I picked up a new sleeping bag for chilly weather. I realize it's still a number of months until winter (I know, I know, it's not even summer yet) but I can't wait to get back out here next winter and do some camping.
This ranch was founded by an Italian settler and dates back to the late 1800's. The original buildings included a small six room house and a single horse barn. In the early 1900's, the house was expanded to fourteen rooms, the barn was also expanded and a blacksmith shop was constructed. It eventually became the one of the largest ranch in the areal in terms of livestock and produce.
The owner and founder died in 1933 and by the 1940's most of the ancestors had left. The ranch now belongs to the Forest Service.
This commune was established in the 1950's and was a mecca for the arts until 2006 when the remaining tenants were forced to leave the grounds.
Last night, I found an old iPhone image (http://instagram.com/p/YG7fXeNy3H/) of this beautiful asylum's exterior lost in fog. It got me thinking about the DSLR images I took at this location and I couldn't remember publishing many, so I went back through the set and found a few I liked.
This is a secure entrance to the Forensic Building at Weston State Hospital. This building housed the criminally insane, patients who may have been deemed "not guilty by reason of insanity."
The Weston State Hospital was constructed following the Kirkbride plan in 1863. The original building was intended for 230 patients, but at the hospital's peak in the 1950's, the population surpassed 2,000.
