3,698 Comments Posted by Motts

wrote:
I believe it's a closet; the metal rail inside looks to be a pipe or conduit.
wrote:
No, I process the photos on the computer which can give a similar effect to on-camera photo filters.
wrote:
I've noticed that the water main is shut off in almost every disused building I've been in, probably to eliminate a leakage problem that could go unnoticed for some time. This would disable any water based fire extinguishing systems; I'm not sure how other systems are handled (Halon etc).
wrote:
Autopsies can get messy no matter what; I think the cleanliness of the room usually depends on the diener, perhaps someone in the field can speak about it.

Once they're abandoned one can only guess as to how clean it was while in use. However, I've seen photo evidence of a pretty disgusting morgue while it was closing, but still in use.
wrote:
Glenn - Infrared filter on regular DSLR.

BKW - nope, we ran around the grounds at night and found nothing but foundations and remnants of train tracks in the woods, nothing to shoot. Perhaps you're thinking of a different park http://www.opacity.us/...enre/amusement_park/
Ephemera: Royal Land
wrote:
Ah, typo on my part, it is Manville; thanks!
wrote:
I think the fire was the "death knell" for this building.
wrote:
Here's the Hoya filter for that 50mm: http://www.amazon.com/...Filter/dp/B0000AI1HP

Use a tripod and manual exposure; auto focus should work in enough sunlight.
wrote:
Infrared photography - it captures a spectrum of light normally invisible to our eyes, and causes long exposures in the day time (blurred trees in the wind).

It's weird, I can pull colors like this sometimes from the filter on my Canon 50mm, but on the 24-70mm it all comes out monochrome. Must be the way the glass is laid out...
wrote:
It was difficult to find the history of the Ancilla Domini Academy in Germantown over the net, so I'm not sure why they abandoned the campus.
wrote:
I think it's just the facade with nothing, or at least not much behind it.

I haven't seen the aurora borealis, but hope to get a photo if I do!
wrote:
I would imagine the book was left over from the Ancilla Domini Academy, which last used the buildings.
wrote:
Interesting, last I heard there were contractors gutting the main building. in 2006/2007.. construction must have been halted for some reason.
wrote:
They very well could be, but I haven't experienced anything that would lead me to believe it.
wrote:
I haven't studied eugenics in whole; however I could only find a racism correlation regarding state institutions and eugenics in southern states (see Defective or Disabled?: Race, Medicine, and Eugenics in Progressive Era Virginia and Alabama by Gregory Michael Dorr). It seems like an interesting topic to investigate, but doesn't really give much insight to the origin of these murals at an institution outside Philadelphia.

Some other publications that delve into eugenics in state schools that might be of interest:

Inventing the Feeble Mind: A History of Mental Retardation in the United States
The Ugly Laws: Disability in Public
Mental Retardation in America: A Historical Reader

Any discussion about abortion will be promptly removed; it has no bearing on this photograph and is off-topic.