Inside a wing of the former Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital, in New Jersey.
This hospital remained in operation for just over a century, but sadly it was demolished in 2015.
Photo: "Nothing But A Memory"
If you follow my photography or blog, you’ve likely heard how devastated I am that this beautiful, former asylum has met its demise. When I took this photo, I was standing in a corridor that is now merely a memory.
People often ask me why I shoot these locations and this building right here is a perfect example why. I first photographed this hospital 6 years ago and I returned last year for a second time. Here we are one year later and nothing remains but a small center section of the building. These places are vanishing rapidly and I want to be there to document as many historic sites as I can.
Photo: "Cleaner"
Inside the morgue building at Hudson River Psychiatric Hospital in New York.
Photo: "Four"
Evening sun light streams into this corridor inside the Administration Building of the Hudson River Psychiatric Hospital in New York.
Photo: "Goodbye"
Demolition on Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital has been underway for a few months now and yesterday, video was posted showing the demolition has reached the Administration section of the Kirkbride, which means this corridor is gone.
In a few months, she will be nothing more than a memory and that is very tragic. History is vanishing right before our eyes and once it is gone, it will be too late to ever get it back…
Photo: "Protected Stairwell"
This stairwell in the Wingdale Wards at Harlem Valley State Hospital, like many asylum stairwells, has a metal fence to protect patients from intentional injuries by throwing themselves over the railing to the floor below.
Photo: "Golden Corridor"
Corridor inside the Wingdale Ward at the former Harlem Valley State Hospital in New York.
Photo: "Kirkbride Blue Hour"
Taken during blue hour on a full moon evening.
This is another one of my favorite Kirkbride buildings at the Hudson River Psychiatric Hospital in New York.
Much of the building has decayed over the years since closing in 2003. Poughkeepsie, New York experiences snow, heat and humidity throughout the year, which have all contributed to the demise of the wings of this hospital. Fortunately, the Administration section, shown here, has remained in tact due to a layer of protection placed over the roof before the weather took a toll.
Photo: "Administration Staircase, Blue Hour"
This image was shot during blue hour inside the Administration Building at the former Hudson River State Hospital in New York. I really do love this staircase. Sadly, blue hour never lasts as long as I would like, so by the time I took the 3 shots necessary for this pano, it was dark and the blue hue was gone.
Photo: "Teal and Golden Memories"
Sadly, in a few months, this asylum will be nothing more than dust. Abatement has already begin inside this massive Kirkbride building.
Within four years of this facility opening in the late 1800′s, the hospital was already accommodating 800 patients, though it was only designed to care for 600. At the hospital’s peak, in 1953, Greystone housed over 7,000 patients, many soldiers suffering from PTSD post World War.
Photo: "Clean"
Sink inside a patient room inside the Wingdale Wards at the former Harlem State Hospital in New York.
Photo: "Jailed"
Inside a cell block of the former Essex County Jail in New Jersey.
Photo: "The Last Red Door"
Corridor inside the Wingdale Wards at Harlem Valley State Hospital.
During my visit last year, I discovered the owners had begun illegal abatement of the property. The State of New York shut down the work being done on the property, but the damage had already been done. Just months before, this building showed evidence of natural decay. The floors were covered in moss and many rooms contained artifacts such as old telephones.
Photo: "Into the Night Light"
As I was packing up to leave the Hudson River Psychiatric Hospital in New York last spring, I realized I hadn't gotten a shot of this collapsed room, though I had walked right past it earlier in the day. I rushed down a few floors and set up just after the sun set behind the hill and light begun to turn soft.
It's not often I bracket my shots, but I made the decision to quickly snap 3 images of varying exposure, unsure if I would ever edit them together in a composite. Tonight, I finally blended all the images together to help balance the exposure for the bright windows, the room and also the dark collapse.
Photo: "The Green Room"
I remembered seeing this gorgeous room on my very brief first visit to Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital many years ago, but I didn't find the time to photograph it. During my trip last Spring, I made it a priority to find it and photograph it.
This room did not contain any built in closets so one could speculate that this room was intended to hold multiple patient beds and house more than one patient.
(This image is a pano comprised of 3 horizontal images taken with my tilt shift and stacked vertically.)