Last Stand State Hospital: Part II

(Continued from Part I. Click for Part III.)

I wanna pick up where I left off with my set from this place. The next building we visited was a bit different. Modern, and full of offices. Everything in here, visually, was very angular, monotone, and repetitive. The shots look almost out of place in contrast with everything else we looked at that day.

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I shot this teensy break room kitchen while Robert hopped out on to the roof to see what other buildings were nearby.

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I really liked the glowy light and hard angles in the stairwells, even though the railings had been stripped from this one. Probably for scrap. Don’t fall!

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This isn’t really a shot of particular artistic merit, I just thought the black mold consuming the ceiling looked like a game of Tetris. I’m easily amused.

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You can see the ceiling mold again in this porch or dayroom or whatever it was. The view out the windows is pretty, especially on a very sunny fall day.

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There isn’t a ton to shoot in there, so we moved on shortly after. The next building was full of beautiful colors and quiet energy.

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This is one of my favorite bathrooms. Couldn’t really tell you why. Maybe the cleanliness, or the muted, all-white color of the room contrasting the foliage out the window, or the fact that no unappreciative, wannabe rebel kids had stormed through and smashed everything into oblivion. I really loved this bathroom.

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I thought I saw another one of these little decorative tissue paper flowers (?) hidden up in a patient closet, so I reached up to grab it. It was a bird’s nest. Surprise!

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The yellows were truly beautiful.

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This was another pretty stairwell, and I dunno why but I was really taken with the arrow on the wall pointing down. Before we worked our way back downstairs, we couldn’t remember if there was another building past this one or not. It was my turn to pop up to the roof and check.

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“The sink fixture[s] are broken.”

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I truly love the solitude and feel of an empty room. If you’ve seen even one of my blog posts, you probably noticed. I don’t know. I love interesting “stuff” too, but the vastness and moodiness of a space, even with nothing in it, is underappreciated. A lot of photographers unfairly look right past that, in my opinion.

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While we’re on the subject of things I love: green mold on a wall.

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I think I can finish this set up in one more post, which I’ll put together in the next few days. It should be easier now that I’ve shaken off most of this awful cold ( 🙂 ), although it seems I shook it off right on to Matt ( 🙁 ). 

‘Til then!

2 comments

  1. I think this building is Pond View – which was staff housing – built in 1959 (and it shows). Great shots which always gets me wired to do more of mine. Wonderful staircase shots, but I especially love the one though the reinforced glass. I totally agree about the beauty of the vastness (probably why I vacation out west). You rendered the kitchen very well too – My shots are OK, but just sort of. Looking forward to #3!

    • Amanda

      Thank you Robert! I agree, it’s Pond View. That kitchen was tough — barely enough room in there to even turn around. I remember shooting it with the door closed just to get it out of the frame, and the oven was stuck open on top of it.

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