Going Green

In spite of the rain my most recent visit to Grafton proved to be one of the best so far in my own humble opinion. I was happy with almost every shot I took and I feel like these give the non-explorer a better sense of Grafton. Enjoy!

Open and Shut Case

The second installment of Grafton State Hospital became all about the doors and windows. A friend of mine said that one of his favorite aspects of my photography is how I play with light and as I've said before, I've begun keeping that in mind when I shoot. Because there is so very little left in this hospital, my eye was drawn to the doors and windows and the way the sun was flooding through.

When I walked into the day room on the second floor I immediately set my camera up to take this shot. The attic above had collapsed onto the third floor, causing the second floor roof to give way and cause this little mini collapse. Between the sunlight and the puddled water on the tile, this made for a great window shot with a hint of reflection on the floor.

Blue seemed to be one of the dominant colors on this floor and though it was obvious that this shot had been staged previously, I still was not going to pass up such a beautiful shadow play with the open drawers and the light streaming through the window in this linen closet.

Each isolation room had a small hole cut into it for the staff to look in on the patients. This struck me as I was walking by and I decided to take a shot that would hopefully transform the otherwise exceptionally plain room into something a little more interesting.

New Colors

I rarely have an exploration that turns out to be as productive as this past week but I revisited Grafton State Hospital and took so many photos with which I'm perfectly pleased with that I will have to divide them into two posts!



Grafton was once a satellite farm colony belonging to the Worcester State Hospital but came into its own in the early 1900's.



The hospital is best known for one particular hallway that, when photographed, results in a bright green tinge that prompts most photographers to title it "Green State". This time however, I noticed that some of the other hallways were also rich in yellows, blues, and pinks.



And this last, somewhat off the cuff, avant-garde shot came from one of my exploring partners looking up and noticing the half round mirror at the top of the gated staircase in the newer portion of the building. Getting to the new part was difficult and wound up being quite a workout but all in all, the day was worth it. More to come!

Hallway to Hell

The most common photograph taken at Grafton State Hospital is this hallway. The beautiful glass building blocks in the wall make for fantastic lighting that accents the green created by both the paint on the walls and the vegetation that has grown through the broken panes. Grafton was once a satellite of Worcester State Hospital and sits on the original WSH site. It served as a farm colony run by WSH until it became its own entity in the 1920's.

We Were In Hiding

A hallmark of Grafton State Hospital is its beautiful colors that come through so clearly in photographs. This bathroom where I hid quietly with a friend was an odd combination of turquoise and pink, just another oddity behind a wooden door in a decidedly green tinged hallways.