Hudson River State Hospital, administration
Yesterday Lauren, Chasi and I took Metro North to Poughkeepsie, NY to meet Matt, one of the subjects of a project I’m working on. From there, we made our way to the Hudson River State Hospital, an abandoned mental asylum from the late 1860s through 1970s, exploring the ins and outs of the beautiful, decaying Kirkbride. I was filming for most of the day, but managed to get a few photos.
“A photograph is a secret about a secret. The more it tells you the less you know.” - Diane Arbus
Incidently, this photo entitled Identical Twins was the inspiration for the famous hallway scene in The Shining (Hello, Danny. Come and play with us! Forever and ever and ever.). Kubrick was actually a very close friend of Arbus. I love her work.
There’s something inherently beautiful about this old, decaying theater. Imagining all the stories, maybe even mysteries, and various entertainment performed here is enough to provide my mind with a little dose of time travel. It may have been abandoned, but it wasn’t entirely forgotten.
(Photo by mattlambros)
