Comments

Hard to imagine a time when the floors were all shiny and the paint was fresh and bright.

Did you mean the floor in the hallway was ready to collapse or the stuff falling from the ceiling has collapsed and clutters the floor?

You've corrupted my mind, Motts! (don't worry, that's not a bad thing)

I took my mother for day surgery today and wondered what would happen to that hospital if it were to close and be left abandoned; what would look decrepit first, would the high glossy shined linoleum peel and detach all at once like so many of the floors you photograph....stuff like that.

I also saw all of the various equipment and decor in a whole different perspective, too. The reclining chairs, the gurneys, the ugly green tiles that decorated 2/3 of the wall in one long hallway in the basement where radiology was hidden....(I also saw it differently because I'm dating an RN, too, but your photographs changed my perspectives on things a great deal more than he has)

It was one of those moments when if I were to know the place was closing, I'd want to be there on closing day to photograph it, then continually document its decay over a long period of time.

Thanks for the COOL notions you've planted in my mind! :)

For the past 10 to 20 years at facilities like these they have consistently bought LOTS of leisure materials - not just one per person like in Oliver Twist where the kid is always crying for more. :-) As a matter of fact, sometimes they have so much of this stuff that the safety officer comes and makes them get rid of some of it because there is so much that it's a fire hazard for exiting the building. Just because YOU love the little stuffed bear doesn't mean that the little stuffed bear was a particularly loved personal belonging of anyone in particular. It might have been just one of the many toys and materials that were set out for all the folks to play with. Whenever someone moves out we have to take every single thing they have ever owned and account for it by inventory. You may see some discarded art projects or communal books people used, but they are very strict about getting peoples' personal belongings out with them or there is hell to pay.

As far as everyone being without love, what an odd thought. Just because someone lived in an institution doesn't mean they lived without love. Some did, most didn't, but that's sort of like normal life, isn't it? Some of us get dealt the good cards and get swell and loving families and live like Paris Hilton and others of us end up with Norman Bates' mother as a close relative.

P.S. As a former school teacher, if parents kept every trinket and art project their kids made that I sent home with them they would need an extra house just to store all that crap. :-)

Eerie, very neat shot.

Wow this shot is amazing! Definitely one of my favorites!

The thought of having your butt kicked by an out-of-control hallucinating 300 pound person would make you a LOT queasier. Trust me on this one. :-)

radical ed what is the weirdest/scarest thing that u ever so heard or happened to u...if any?

This place REALLY has atmosphere!

That is a fantastic shot, but I am wondering if perhaps it really isn't a soap dispenser of some sort?

Truly wonderful and weird!

Looks like a floor level perspective. Interesting.

Truly awesome . . .

Holy hot tamales!

Whoa! I just edited out a whole bunch of swear words! This shot takes the cake!

Oh, this is just too excellent! The colors and lighting are perfect!