Comments

If the smell was still that strong, then it must have just happened not too long before you got there, I would have probably left the area immediately after realizing that some shit smearing individual was lurking about. Who knows what else they would be capable of.... creepy!

Quite interresting, i've never seen such a varity of wheel chairs...

Do they ever sell any items right before they tear down these great buildings?

I would love to hear the echo of footsteps in that hallway (my own that is - not someone lurking about)

Wow Motts, It would be great to have a letter head from that old place! Do you think you'll get back there before they tear it down?

Great shot! The Doors are fantastic! I love the dark colored wood .
Dayum! I wish I could see this place before it gets torn down!

I don't believe everything I hear but I do however believe this place has a very good chance of being haunted.

Seems like the degree of sadness for each viewer of these images varies with the depth of their ability to feel or relate to sadness itself. Many of the viewers here seem drawn to such ample doses of dread as these. Motts, I wonder (though probably asked many times) if it is possible that there exists an image in your many collections that you find either the saddest or most disturbing, or both? I find the emotions surrounding the children's playthings to be the saddest of all.
If there is in each person a tendancy to let their soft side be known, the camera eye is your tell. Over the past several months I find I visit Opacity when I feel the need to experience the emotions I find through your camera lens. You would make a most interesting acquaintance, I think.

nice pic

MOTTS!! Seriously, WTF? Also, don't you hate jerks like me demanding explanations from you?

The intent, alien as it appears to some, was to treat the so-called "insane" with some modicum of decency and humanity, with compassion and respect, and house them in a beautiful and "humane" environment (and not a "nuthouse") in the hopes that it would help their return to normalcy. This was termed "moral treatment" and actually did a lot of good before the lack of adequate housing for people with mental illness forced the severe overcrowding that led to the infamous abuses that seem to horrify and yet morbidly attract so many to this site. The original builders had compassion for the tenants, which makes me admire them rather than scorn them as it seems you might.

What absolutely stumps me is the condescending attitude and lack of empathy and concern that some people show toward others who are going through a very rough stretch of life. I sincerely hope that if anything ever befalls you or someone you love, you won't have to deal with someone who shows this same lack of concern and respect.

I remember that movie.



Great picture, Mr. Motts. I want a print of this one.

Shhhhh,I have a secret garden.

I am absolutely stumped as to why such meticulous effort in the detail of the architecture / masonry was tended to, (aside from the typical styles of the period) knowing these structures were intended to house the insane. Nothing personal, but highly ornate construction for a nuthouse...
Perhaps the builders were related to the tenants?

It may well be a piece of cardboard to mimic paper for the purpose of the shot.