3,698 Comments Posted by Motts

This medical building is gone; I believe the administration building still remains, not sure if anything else.

It's just a matter of leaving the shutter open for a few minutes; it's called "bulb mode" on most cameras. A tripod is needed as well to keep the camera from moving.

Some people want to "ruin" the more majestic scenes found in these places, although the reasoning escapes me.

Yes, most places with an alias can be researched and found quite easily using the historical information... but it does take that small amount of effort to do it.

I have a resentment towards lazy people. I've spent a good number of hours research some of these places, and it's tough to simply put it out there when the place is almost unheard of and forgotten. If I were to pinpoint each location, I feel I would be killing the little bits of "exploration" left in the world (especially after the advent of exploring forums, Flickr, and GPS camera data).

Some of the greatest feelings come to me when I'm pouring my heart into finding some hidden place using whatever clues I can, and I finally nail it. When I physically get there and start shooting, I also feel more... proud, I suppose is the closest word. Why deprive someone of that?

Some places also have a pseudonym in respect to someone who had given me a heads-up on the place, and asked to keep it undisclosed.

In any case, if anyone has the motivation to go out and find these places, it's not too hard. If they're lazy, I'll just get another "What's the address of this place?" comment, and subsequently delete it :-)

All these places will probably show up in some IPhone App sooner or later, but until then it'll be our secret :-)

The detention center was taken over by Western State School and Hospital in 1962, which was a residence for the developmentally disabled. This building, constructed specifically for Western State, was essentially a fully equipped hospital to care for the most infirm residents.

They were used to prevent the glass windows from being smashed. These kinds of grates were used until heavy duty mesh screens and thick plastics were developed.

Could have been a transformer or x-ray room, hard to tell with what little remains!

It's a similar angle, but definitely a different photo - thanks for keeping an eye open though!

I think it's a recent layer of plaster that fell from the ceiling on top of the older piles...

Just tried it, looks fine to me. What's the issue?

Very true wmass - perhaps no one really knows unless they worked or stayed there. Spray paint is usually the easier and preferred method of leaving one's mark though.

Tiny, I'm not sure what is splattered on the bottom; it's too red to be blood, perhaps paint.

The lock secures a mesh grate door in a stairwell - each floor in every wing was a most likely a secured ward. Patients were originally separated by the severity of their illness and gender, and were not allowed to congregate unless at social events (dances, etc). If someone managed to get past the ward's stairwell door, I would imagine this gate as being a backup.

Do you know what their dreams taste like by any chance? :-)

Extremely insightful comment.