Comments

You always manage to find the most humorous violations of signs, Motts!

Thanks for the history. That is a freaking lot of coal.

Awesome possum backstory, Sean! Thank you so much for sharing! Reading all the history in the comments is half the fun on Opacity!

P. - You're deeply ignorant and naive as hell. Go to the max security wing at your nearest state prison and ask the guards if "people with criminal backgrounds" for "violent and horrible crimes" ever throw feces and urine in anger. I assure you, they do, and it's not because they're mentally ill, it's because they're simmering balls of hatred who've had every other means of attack taken away from them aside from their own filthy excretions. These are people who have been locked in an isolation cell so they can't abuse/rape/kill their cellmate and are now limited to taking their anger out on the people who are forced to interact with them in order to take care of their human needs (food, hygiene, healthcare, exercise).

Not everything in the real world fits so neatly into your little "all humans are inherently good" fantasy.

I feel like it'd be interesting for somebody to come and gather up and catalog these. If the records are pre-HIPAA then they wouldn't be violating the law by picking them up.

I don't believe in the suppression of information unless the harm grossly outweighs the informational benefit. A lot of people assume psychiatric records ought to be destroyed so nobody can ever know about them, but think of all the people who might have had a brother/sister/mom/dad who disappeared one day with the "men in the white coats" and was never heard from again.

These are amazing photos. So disturbing when you think of the thousands of people who must have stared at these awful turquoise prison walls. This color was so jarring, I am surprised it wasn't a more muted feel in there. It would have really actually riled up the patients there.

I wonder if there is any leftover film on the floor. You know, scraps of it. Would have been extremely interesting to grab some of it and maybe learn what was being shown (not that it would exactly matter mind you) and maybe ascertain if there were actual movies shown or just cartoons or maybe as I said, staff movies and filmed reports for the greater staff.

(ok, so I skipped over the comments this time even if it is short! No disrespect intended, just HAD to comment! LOL)

These theater shots are always interesting to me. I don't know, I think its just that I think back to this being used for that purpose, filled with people watching movies, doing stage plays and the like, and holding assemblies and stuff along those lines. They just make me wonder about a certain place even more. Not necessarily within the context of the nuthouse or hospital per se, just more within the general concept of things.

The state of that place just makes me wonder about that. What cartoons were shown (if any)? What would the cinematic fare be in a sanitarium like this? Did they make their own movies? What about staff presentations and maybe movies made by them to present to the greater staff? These sort of questions run through my mind generally when a theater like this is shown.

Reminds me of some of the chairs that were in what could best be called the Common Room, which was a semi-largish room that sort of connected the Male and Female wings of Gainesville Job Corps Center. I recall those things since they looked awful damn heavy. And even bowling shoe ugly. They didn't keep the place clean as they should and as such shut off access to it. Oh and the chairs were also written on as well... Good snap though

The same room from a different perspective or a different room with a dry floor... Either way, it still evokes those feelings of uneasiness...

The legendary (and famous) Lonely Chair Shot... Nicely done even if its against a wall

Looks like a place they put the children in when either they were misbehaving or when the State Inspectors would show up so as to make it all look so very good...

The wheelchair in this shot makes this all the more sad and dramatic. I don't know, my mind just can't seem to really wrap around the fact these people would make a room in the basement a cheery place for children. God only knows what could have been REALLY taking place down there... I will not comment on that any further as this shot is slightly disturbing along those very lines...

Super wow... This is the first time I actually skipped the entire comment postings to post mine! I know, sounds a bit egotistical right? Hehehe!!! Usually I read through most of them (if its super long) and then post. But Motts dude, this here is really a perfectly done photograph! You have captured classic essence like nothing before! Its perfectly muted, showing extreme respect to the room and what it symbolizes and shows great respect for the insanely departed.

Reminds me big time of playing those games and walking into a room typically like this one and then having a flashback of sorts... Or maybe I have been playing The Darkness II (special edition) too long... Or maybe I am aching to rule on the legendary Silent Hill...

This is almost relative to the famous Lonely Chair snaps seen elsewhere on this site. There is something about that bed that is almost...I don't know...inviting to get a psychic residual reading off of it. Makes you wonder who occupied that bed and what their story in this madhouse of torturous maltreatment was all about and...if they lived long to tell the tale...

Now this is a weirdly angled shot. Interestingly done, capturing well the oddity of the scene. Reminds me sort of the legendary classic series BATMAN, when the villain battles took place and how they angled the camera. Why did they do that? Because they were crooks! So it had to look crooked! All in all, excellent shot Motts...

Wow... What can I say? This has to be one of the most stoic shots I have ever seen. And almost eerie as well. Looks like the place may have been fenced at one time. Meaning, there was a passageway created by strategic fencing to keep certain things stored in the attic from the ubiquitous Five Finger Discount. Also, could have been used to put the really bad crazies they didn't want the State Inspectors to find out about... Or at least when they didn't pay them handsomely to look the other way... Really very sad what went on here though...very sad.