The Old Haunt

My last shoot of 2016. I had…pretty low expectations going in here. I wasn’t even sure I’d go in. This century-plus-year-old building has been vacant for close to four decades, and that has taken a huge toll.

The place is completely empty. There are barely even walls left. There are really bad tags everywhere, all from kids. I cloned out some of what I couldn’t shoot around, but had to give up on the rest.

This used to be a gorgeous main staircase. It’s impossible to climb now, so all you can do is sit at the bottom, look up, and literally watch pieces of the ceiling fall down and add to the pile of debris.

Apparently the locals love ghost stories about this place. I found it very quiet. No one experiences these places the same way, but nothing about this old hospital struck me as creepy in the slightest.

Some more of these incredible stairs. So many of my shots ended up blurry because my tripod legs kept sinking into the floor.

Back home, I did some digging. Turns out the EPA had been here nine months earlier on a massive remediation project — a $1.5 million dollar expense that removed more than 10 truckloads of asbestos.

I’m not sure why such a massive amount of money would be dumped into a building that’s past the point of restoration and isn’t even slated for demo. It seems like a huge waste of resources. The time to act on this poor old place was decades ago.

That’s it! Life for me remains very busy. I’m still working my editorial gig full-time during the week, and running my photography business on my nights and weekends. It’s a good busy though, and I’m grateful.

I’m also grateful for the times I have been able to go shoot for myself, and grateful for the friends (old and new) who shoot alongside me. I’m grateful for the loved ones who have my work hung up in their homes, who attended my first exhibit this summer, and who encourage me to keep doing what makes me happy. And I’m grateful for the old buildings that continue to change me for the better as both a person and photographer.

Happy New Year. 🙂

4 comments

  1. Viewing the building by means of your images is just like going back in for the first time…You make a good point about being focused on the shot and ignoring the spirits that may be lingering. Although I have stated many times that i am unaffected by anything paranormal in these places, I must agree that my inner spirit does get changed – and like you, for the better…
    All the best to you and your family this season and for all of 2017…

    • Amanda

      Thanks, Robert. I was worried about capturing the character here, since there was so little left. I can’t agree more, we carry pieces of theses places home with us and they change us. Happy New Year, and see ya at the next one… 🙂

  2. Great shoot, I always love looking at your images. “Happy New Year” :>)

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