Photographer Jeremy Harris shot the crumbling interiors of abandoned mental institutions in the eastern United States for his series "American Asylums, Moral Architecture in the 19th Century." These institutions operated when patient overcrowding, misdiagnosis and abuse were commonly reported.
These dismal circumstances almost seem to imprint on the decomposing buildings as photographed by Harris. If Harris' photo series — shot over a period of almost a decade — seems to have a haunting quality, that is a state that Harris is apparently comfortable with. As he says via his website,
"Jeremy currently resides in a semi-haunted (by friendly ghosts), rustic brownstone in Crown Heights, Brooklyn with his two cats, Delilah and Jezebel."
Read more about Harris and see more of his work at his website. Via Beautiful Decay.
Images Credit: Jeremy Harris
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Exactly, Alex! I felt conflicted about this issue after I was approached by so many obviously mentally ill people when I was in San Francisco recently. Some seemed so miserable, haunted and alone it practically tore my heart out.
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That very one. I drive by it quite often, maybe I'll try to get a picture of the exterior.
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The Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital?
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There's a semi-abandoned insane asylum near me called Greystone Park. Semi-abandoned in that the facility erected new buildings and various other upgrades, but the original building still stands waiting for demolition. The local government who I work for actually owns that property, which makes me wonder if there's some way I can scheme my way inside the building.
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What haunting images! Despite the flagrant abuses in (the now closed) mental institutions, every time I see a homeless person who's obviously mentally disabled, I wonder if we did the right thing in closing them down.
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