Never mind being freaked out by iron lungs etc, Mott's running the gauntlet between falling through rotten floorboards into a stinking cesspit of stagnant water, catching T.B., or getting whacked by a group of surprised junkies off their faces on god-knows-what !!
Since when did photography become an extreme sport??
The colours of the walls in most of Mott's photos always look drab and depressing. But when you think of it, he has shown us photos of green walls, yellow walls, brown walls, white walls, and pink walls. They all looked disheartening. The colour is not the trouble, it is the SHADES of the colours that were depressing.
Although born just inside the fifties, I can remember very well, interior decorating themes of those times. That fifties dull, rose pink, for instance. I still remember a melamine dinner set aaagh! And the scary shade of green bath we had in England.
When colours went psychadelic in the 60's, it's like there was some kind of backlash amongst government decorators as if those vivd lime greens and groovy purples were associated with LSD and drop outs. Nearly all governent buildings of those times were continually painted in drab, uninteresting shades of colour. (even today, things that are made in what I call "government grey" like ECG, and all heart monitor and blood pressure cables, are coloured that way because it is the cheapest colour to make, or so a pt who used to make them told me).
It wasn't really until the 80's and 90's that the bright beautiful colours used in decorating we see today began to be used. If you look in children's hospital corridors today, the colours are almost overwhelming, at least in Oz. (With lots of sun shiny yellow).
After checking out the history site link, I couldn't help wondering what they did with all the patients who were evacuated during the two world wars so the military could use the hospital? Does anybody know?
I agree with Florida Jen, abandoned toy photos are somehow sadder for me than other things. What really gets me is photos of a single, broken doll. There is something 'war-like' about the image.
Tommeh!!, The neat left wall is courtesy of the radiators. Even though they wouldn't be on after everyone left, the whole wall and its interiors would have repelled mould, just that little bit longer.
Any old buildings that are not completely fortressed up could be used by squatters. if Motts got into these places easily, then anybody else could.
And if anybody else could, then someone looking for a 'dead body hiding place' could also get in. So regular patrols would be needed.
I used to be a security guard at a University and abandoned buildings (believe it or not, also a psych hospital attached to the Uni) were regularly checked by different shifts.