Hello again!
I come bearing gifts: More photos from our trip to Traverse City. To be honest, I wasn’t super pleased with these photos and felt that the location had a lot of potential that I just couldn’t seem to capture.
The State Hospital in Traverse City was the mental hospital used for the state of Michigan and was the third of its kind. (You can read more about it here if you’re interested.) It’s operational history was long, opening in 1885 and finally shutting its doors in 1989, being used to house those deemed insane for more than a hundred years.
Since it’s closing in ’89 the buildings had been abandoned until 2000 when deals were made to renovate the buildings into a shopping centre and apartments. Yes. Apartments. Don’t ask.
Although a lot of the buildings have now been completely renovated, there are still several buildings that have had no work done to them. So, in light of this, Sara and I romped around there for a couple of hours taking photos. Unfortunately you can’t go into the abandoned buildings due to asbestos and air quality, but you can still see in through some windows. I would have loved to go in and take some shots of the interiors. I would never go in the buildings as that would be highly illegal and dangerous, so here are some photos of the outside of the buildings.
I suspect Sara got some better shots than I did– though I haven’t seen them yet –so if these don’t satisfy you can look forward to seeing hers sometime in the future.
(Disclaimer: Sara may or may not post her photos of the State Hospital. I am wholly unresponsible for any un-met expectations in regards to future posts and their image content.)
(Just kidding.)
(Seriously though, I’m not responsible.)
11 Comments
Marisa
30 Jun 2012 at 3:22 pmWow! Definitely as creepy as an abandoned mental hospital should be. Your editing really helps set the mood.
I love black and white comparisons! They help me with my own conversions. My rule of thumb is if I want the form and/or light to be the main subject, I convert to black and white. I think black and white was an excellent choice for the gate/grate.
Tom
30 Jun 2012 at 7:17 pmThanks! I tried to keep the editing kind of bleak and muted to convey that mood. I thougth that too about the gate photo in black and white, but I also liked the colour one since orange and blue look so great together.
Jessica
30 Jun 2012 at 1:11 amI like the b&w… it seems to have more depth.. feeling.. in it. I feel like there is more of a story behind it, more mystery.
Tom
30 Jun 2012 at 7:25 pmThat’s why I ended up going with it instead of the coloured one. It just seemed more eerie, and much more indicative of the strange vibes you get while you’re there.
Mariana
29 Jun 2012 at 9:34 pmOh, that first one is phenomenal! Definitely very eerie.
Great pictures!
Tom
30 Jun 2012 at 7:24 pmThank you!
Kathryn
29 Jun 2012 at 9:20 pmthe B&W version is creepier in my opinion but I love the colours in the colour version.
the second to last photo of the broken and boarded up windows is wonderful, my favourite of the lot by far. such a great mood captured! 🙂
Tom
30 Jun 2012 at 7:23 pmThank you! That picture of the boarded up windows was actually of a part of the building that was well preserved in comparison to a lot of other sections; but the one you see in the post was much more photo-appropriate, so to speak.
I just couldn’t seem to capture the other dilapidated sections of the building in a way that did them justice, but I’m glad you liked the ones I posted anyway!
Kim
29 Jun 2012 at 5:39 pmIt’s great seeing posts from you, Tom! I’m a firm believer in using your blog to do/post pretty much whatever makes you happy, so no raging here (FWIW I think I actually like the color version more! The B&W has a cinematic quality to it, but I just love those cool blue highlights peeking through, makes it a little eerie, I think).
Also, APARTMENTS??? YUCK.
Also, SIDE NOTE: This post takes me back to college when I used to joke with my friends about how all boys go through a “take pictures of abandoned buildings” phase while girls go through a “take pictures of their feet” phase. Seriously, every guy I knew in college LOVED exploring creepy warehouses and stuff! Honestly, though, I would too, if I had the cajones. Feet it is.
Tom
30 Jun 2012 at 7:20 pmWow, this is so true it’s scary. Sara has more pictures of her feet than I can count (She just took another one today.) and I do love exploring creepy warehouses and other abandoned buildings. I didn’t know it was a gender thing though. I’m supposed to be a snowflake, damn it!
I’ve actually always wanted to go to Pripyat, near Chernobyl and take photos of all the abandoned buildings and the town.
Apparently they do tours now that the radiation has died down– kind of crazy, but I think it would be a once in a lifetime experience.
Sara
8 Jul 2012 at 12:23 pmYeah, I definitely never grew out of the photos-of-feet stage!
And I’ve always had a thing for abandoned buildings places too. SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?