Charlie I would love to see a map of the interior of those old mines.

Location: Heusden-Zolder Coal Mine  Gallery: Up and Out

	Charlie Conveyor Belt.. I worked in several coal mines over an 11 year period. I never worked in a shaft mine though, only drift mines that enter the coal seam from the side of a mountain on a horizontal plane. My coal minning career came to an abrupt end in March, 1982 when my back was broken in a mine roof fall. I have been in a wheelchair since. I loved working in coal mines. It is addictive.

Location: Heusden-Zolder Coal Mine  Gallery: Up and Out

	Charlie Wow, after seeing this for real when I was a kid, it's kind of surreal seeing it in photos 35 years later. That's exactly how it was then. Dark and gloomy, cloud coverd day. The echos in those corridors were so eerie! We were 14 years old, running through the halls, turning stuff over and breaking windows.

Location: Pilgrim State Hospital  Gallery: Emptiness

Charlie This brings back memories. We broke into the main building before it was torn down in the summer of 1974. We got chased by security, took off in the woods, walked along train tracks and ended up at the coal burning power plant. The guard there made us walk through the still occupied insane asylum until we got to the gate that leads out to Comack Road. What a day that was, I will remember it until I die!

Location: Pilgrim State Hospital  Gallery: Emptiness

	Charlie World War 2??

Location: Saint Remigius Military Hospital  Gallery: Terrain Militarie

	Charlie That wood work is incredible! From years past when such was crafted using all hand tools. mortise and tennon joinery. It kinda looks like the framing of an old wooden ship. Let us hope that stays with the renovation.

Location: Valmea Convent  Gallery: Tangled

	Charlie Simply beautiful!

Location: Clinique de la Faisanderie  Gallery: Suburbia

	Charlie Nice! I like it!

Location: Clinique de la Faisanderie  Gallery: Suburbia

	Charlie Small hallway for a hospital or nursing home.

Location: Clinique de la Faisanderie  Gallery: Suburbia

	Charlie Gothic revival?

Location: Clinique de la Faisanderie  Gallery: Suburbia

	Charlie Where I live, this place would have to be guarded to keep the crypts from being vandalized for jewelry to buy drugs. Many people were and still are entombed with their favorite pieces of jewelry. So much has changed above since most of these people were entombed. What will this place look like in 50 years?

Location: La Crypte des Fleurs  Gallery: Moisture

	Charlie So beautiful. What a shame it has been neglected so. A cool reminder of the permanence of death.

Location: La Crypte des Fleurs  Gallery: Moisture

	Charlie I can imagine an old man sitting in that chair visiting with his young wife or girlfriend whom he had lost many years before. I love all your work, Motts, especially the Cemetery stuff. Thanks..

Location: La Crypte des Fleurs  Gallery: Moisture

	Charlie I agree, Prairie Lady. I wouldn't mind becoming an Oak Tree someday. It would be extra cool if that tree was between my wife or girlfriend and I and was feeding off the both of us. Then, we would truely be one. :)

Location: Mount Rose Cemetery  Gallery: Rookery

Charlie Were the dead transported there from the Mortuary or home and stored in the racks in their caskets until the funeral hour, or were they brought there and casketed in the caskets stored in the racks? If casketed there, wouldn't they be emabalmed and preped there? It would be unusual to embalm and prep a body and then transport it to the chapel to be casketed wouldn't it? I never knew such things existed. Nice shot. Thanks, Motts..

Location: Mount Rose Cemetery  Gallery: Rookery

	Charlie I would love to have this for a Myspace background. Beautiful. Thanks..

Location: Mount Rose Cemetery  Gallery: Rookery

	Charlie Back to the dust of the earth from whence it came.

Location: Verden Psychiatric Hospital  Gallery: Uncovering the Past

	Charlie Hey, Polar. I agree. That door looks to be solid White Oak, probably 2 to 3 inches thick. I love woodworking and woodcarving, and love the stone work and metal work in this cemetery. Thanks, Mr. Motts.

Location: Mount Rose Cemetery  Gallery: Rookery

	Charlie Beautiful, Stunning Shot! We attach so much ritual and beauty to death. Death, the end of life and the beginning of decay and the deep and dreamless sleep to await the Resurrection.

Location: Mount Rose Cemetery  Gallery: Rookery

	Charlie Maybe, they embalmed the bodies before they were taken away to minimize the spread of tuberculosis and other diseases. A very thought invoking image.

Location: Riverside Hospital (North Brother Island)  Gallery: Typhus

	Charlie Looks like an old embalming table..

Location: Riverside Hospital (North Brother Island)  Gallery: Typhus

	Charlie Beautiful!

Location: Riverside Hospital (North Brother Island)  Gallery: Typhus

	Charlie Mr. Motts is not only a first rate photographer, but a first rate writer, also. The introduction to this album reminds me of the writings of Henry David Thoreau in his book, "A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers." I appreciate all the work you share with us, Motts.

Location: Riverside Hospital (North Brother Island)  Gallery: Typhus

	Charlie The Anchor is an early Christian symbol of hope. I would guess, hope for salvation and the Heavenly journey into eternity. Death is so final, so Permanent.. Visiting an old Cemetery like this one we see the monments erected to honor people long gone and forgotten, and we realize that in time so shall we be forgotten as they.

Location: Mount Rose Cemetery  Gallery: Rookery

	Charlie Maybe, Mr. Motts will find time to photograph this beautiful old cemetery for us during spring, summer or best of all, Autumn.

Location: Mount Rose Cemetery  Gallery: Rookery