I was reminded of this post and some of the Urbex photography work I did a while ago recently. I was watching a documentary about the Willowbrook State School, a run-down institution similar to some I’d set foot in as a photographer, years after their demise. From 2008…

So, I just wrote this post for Thematic Photographic, only to realize I posted a photo relating to Carmi’s Wordless Wednesday , and not this week’s actual theme, which is patterns.

I thought this week’s Thematic Photographic subject was ‘vanishing,’ and far be it from me to ditch a perfectly good post just because it has nothing to do with anything.

I was so impressed with ‘vanishing’ as a theme, too. A wide-open theme like this leaves plenty of room for interpretation, but I immediately decided to cull my UrbEx set on flickr, and this shot was an easy pick as my official entry:

South Campus, Northampton State Hospital , Northampton, Mass. – Nikon D70, 18 – 70 Nikkor lens; desaturated with Microsoft Digital Image Editor

The South campus of Northampton State Hospital, a Kirkbride hospital, is the only major building left on the site that once housed patients. A small building called Haskell still stands across the street that was used for geriatric patients, but the main building known for its experimental treatments and utter creepiness has been leveled, leaving the South Campus to serve as the largest reminder of days gone by. The property is being redeveloped as condos and commercial space, primarily, and soon, the South Campus will be gone, too. Inside, the hallways are wide and the rooms are small cells with barred windows and metal doors – all hallmarks of the Kirkbride design. As such, it’s virtually impossible to reuse the building for any other reason.

It’s a vestige of the past with no future.