Mesh Window

Very interesting - I like the colors, the texture, the contrast - I can almost feel the touch of the metal.

again with the colors. try imagining being a patient in one of those rooms... forever.

christina, some of tend to look at these pictures with our glasses half full, hence again the reference to color, this is what draws alot of us to motts pictures, not the depressing overtones of the people who had to live here.

I think most of us who enjoy Motts photographs are intrigued and saddened by the history of these places too, but at the same time we are drawn to the photography aspect that comes into play as well. Motts is an excellent photographer as well as a keeper of historic remembrances. And I say God bless him.

Christina, I believe that spending "forever" in one of these rooms is a far better alternative then living on the streets and being abused and maltreated by the general public. At least here one had shelter, food and care - somewhat.

Good on ya, Bean! :-)

it's my understanding (from talking with some folks who lived in this area for decades) that when the patients were released from this hospital and another one nearby that the patients were at a loss and wanted to return because they were institutionalized, sheltered, cared for (to various extents), and didn't know how to live outside. a lot became wandering homeless. i am certain many people had horrible experiences in these institutions--on the other hand they had a purpose and a lot of caregivers are the most amazing people i've ever met. all that said, these are incredible, fascinating, textural, moody photographs that i'm really grateful i can look at.

I want to know what is beyond the bars - a wall or a garden perhaps?

I agree with woodwytch, it would be like being in prison for 50 years and suddenly being left out. How would you cope? Imagine all that's changed around you? That must be very frightening.

Fascinating comments about not knowing quite how to live on the outside. I've often wondered if that's why criminals continue to break the law in order to get back into prison where they don't have to deal with the outside?

i've been lurking here for quite a while and finally decided to leave a comment. as a criminal justice major i can understand the patients fears of living on the outside world after so many years of living inside. its a problem we study, how to help long time prisoners cope with moving into the outside world and living there. even people who have only served a few short years have trouble readjusting back into society. imagine suffering from a mental illness or some other condition that incapacitated you and being expected to learn how to live outside the hospital after spending perhaps the better part of your life there!

I can almost see some insane occupant in the room crouched in the corner, rocking, and glaring into the depths of his confusion.

I've worked with more than a few people who preferred to spend the hottest weeks of summer in a recently-constructed, air conditioned state hospital rather than stuck in their stifling, run-down, tiny apartment in a high crime area. Most people with serious, chronic mental health issues do not have the job skills to be gainfully employed, and SSI checks do not buy much in the way of decent housing. The community is often not very welcoming, either. I recall one incident where I was working with a young man, teaching him how to go to the drugstore to pick up and pay for his prescription medications. Reading and counting were difficult for him, but he could do both. The insensitive clerk looked at him disdainfully when he was slow to hand over his money and said, very loudly, "What's wrong with you? Can't you even read?" (We called the store later and spoke to the manager.) On another occasion, several staff and group home residents walked to a neighborhood ice cream shop for a treat on a summer evening. One of the residents used a wheelchair. Her wheelchair would not fit through the door, and the owner refused to unlock the other door so that she could enter the store. He said he didn't want "those people" in his store anyway. (We filed a formal complaint with the human rights commission, which sent out a very professionally-dressed lawyer to investigate the possible violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. He also used a wheelchair, and had the same experience as our resident did, so there were legal consequences for the business.)

When we look at old photographs of abandoned institutions we think about how depressing and lonely the solitary rooms are. We often forget that outside of those metal bars and padded walls there are people living lives more lonely than this ever could be.