Comments
Equipment Shelves

Max

My ex-gf had similar labels in her bedroom closet! LOL!

Location: Cliffside Hospital  Gallery: Secret Things

Crib

Max

It should give you the chills. In lots of institutions, patients were cagd up in these things for days on end! Treated worse than animals they were!

Location: Roseville State School  Gallery: Open Sores

Choir

Max

Nice graffito on the right side of the arch. Story o' my life! ; )

Location: Roseville State School  Gallery: Open Sores

Stainless Steel

Max

It's the frame for an old thingamajiggit somethingorother watchamacallit doohickey, what did you think it was?

Motts: Where is this place? I googled "Roseville State School" and only came up with your site. Did the institution go by a different name?

Location: Roseville State School  Gallery: Open Sores

Morgue From Side

Max

Archeologists asked the same questions when exploring the Egyptian pyramids. Plunderers tore through them all hundreds and thousands of years before. That's why King Tut's tomb was so special, it was untouched...until Howard Carter and the boys got to it!

Some people are just sh*ts, whether in 1000 BC or 2005 AD!

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: A Grand Tour

Morgue

Max

I dunno, in the case of Byberry, I think the morgue represents some relief from troubled lives.

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: A Grand Tour

Long Tunnel

Max

Asbestos soup. No thanks!

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: A Grand Tour

Falling Ceilings

Max

I'd walk gingerly on tippy-toes under that baby!

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: A Grand Tour

Ed's Tag

Max

But Ed, why tag inside a building that's gonna get demolished within the next couple of years?

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: A Grand Tour

Grounds W-6

Max

Another great photo, Motts. I love the contrast between the emerald-green vegetation and dull, decaying brick buildings.

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: A Grand Tour

Candle

Max

How utterly charming, Ed!
The only difference is the mold is smarter than Billy Idol and could probably make a better record.
I first thought that pick was a Mason jar with something gross in it!

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: A Grand Tour

Goddog

Max

Actually, that photo looks like the archival photos I've seen of neglected patients back in the mid-20th century. Minus the beer, of course! Oh, and the graffiti. And the patients didn't have buff arms, like this dude.

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: A Grand Tour

Emptiness

Max

Not to get too PC, here, but if CJ worked at Byberry in the early '70s, she's probably became a WOMAN about at least 40 years ago!

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: Depression

Terraces

Max

A Byberry Barbecue, eh? I don't think I'd have much of an appetite hanging out in that joint!

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: Depression

Lab Cabinets

Max

Another "Byberrian" found slides with brain samples on them! Ooooh!
If I was in an abandoned asylum, I'd be most keeen on finding old patient records.
This is what the makers of "Session 9" were getting at. If you haven't seen that movie, don't bother, it's a turkey.

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: Depression

Ward Windows

Max

Six months old seems awfully young to be "institutionalized," but it did happen. Byberry did have a pediatric unit.
One of the arguments in favor of the "deinstitutionalization" movement was that people indeed got "institutionalized" to the point where they stood no chance in the outside world.
Unfortunately, the D.I. movement was devilishly underfunded nationwide.
Now the severely mentally ill live in prisons instead of state hospitals.

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: Depression

Ward

Max

I'd like to read any other info you've got on this institution, Motts.

I've seen the Byberry grounds in person, but I've been reading everything I can find online.

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: Depression

Nurses Station

Max

CJ,
I've read your all your comments. Fascinating. Would love to read more about your experiences at Byberry.

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: Depression

Spiral Staircase

Max

I love how it's obscured so you can't see how high it goes or where it leads!

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: Sunlight

Nurses Station

Max

The juxtoposition of the empty window frame with the broken one gives the impression of vandalism in action.
The green scum is nice too!

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: Sunlight

Hallway

Max

Like a black metal CD cover...
only much, much better because it's a real pic from Byberry!
I admire your photography skills!

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: Sunlight

Medical Auditorium

Max

Smart friends you've got there, Ed, very smart indeed!
Disturbing cartoons on those walls. Gotta love 'em!

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: Sunlight

Curtains

Max

Eerie looking curtains!

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: Sunlight

Drop Ceiling

Max

More like "dropped" ceiling!

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: Sunlight

Waist Shaper

Max

Probably not the best device for schizophrenics, wouldn't you say?

Location: Philadelphia State Hospital (Byberry)  Gallery: Sunlight