Holga and I break the law for the sake of art

<p><a href="http://westfordcomp.com/holga/hospital511/stateschoolhospital.html">CLICK</a></p>

<p>Jeez Gene, did you find Buffalo Bill in there or any bodily remains? Spooky.</p>

<p>Looks like the one in Sedro-Wooley, which I read was going to be torn down this year. A shame they can't offer tours, I'd love to shoot in a place like that. They did film a few ghost hunter TV shows in there though.</p>

<p>I can hear Rod Serling's voice narrating Gene's movements through The Hospital. Those are some outright spooky photos, spine chilling. Great effective use of hand held flash. </p>

<p>Gene,<br>

Hichcock! Like everything you post, beautiful & meaningful.</p>

<p>Gene: You should read "Emily Dickinson is Dead". The mood of the book goes with the photos you took. Nice work.<br>

(went to UMass, many years ago)</p>

<p>Those photos seem to say, "if you're mental, we'll take you in and make sure you stay that way." I guess it was a useful facility in its day, I suppose. This style of photo really works for this subject.</p>

<p>The right camera for that subject, neat.</p>

<p>Wow, you went in there with a HOLGA !!?? Personally I like to bring something a little more, shall we say, hefty. As in: 'can be used as a weapon in a pinch'.</p>

<p>Jody, quite right. A Nikon F with the large metered prism might do well in a pinch. But I do like the mood that the Holga images produce, they are almost like vintage black and white photos of the place. A modern camera might create images that are too sharp or too stark. That being said, I always want to document old structures like that, especially if they are in danger of being pulled down.</p>

<p>very cool images gene, kind of spooky too. and yes the camera for sure fit the subject. nice captures all of them</p>

<p>There is something to those Holgas, and you captured that "something" very well. From the few pics of Gene on his site, and some comments I wager that he's been places and seen things that make an old abandoned hospital pale in comparison in terms of danger... but there is something oppressive about the sense of misery in a place like that...</p>

<p>Grim. I can't think of a better use for a Holga. Highly evocative images, <strong>Gene</strong>; like all good art, they serve to kindle our imagination.</p>

<p>Love the creative fogging, and the atmosphere. The shot of the chair and broken mirror is especially creepy. I could just imagine teenagers going there at night to scare the beejesus out of themselves!<br>

Maybe next time leave the Holga behind with a half exposed film for someone to find, kind of Blair witch thing.</p>

<p>"I wager that he's been places and seen things that make an old abandoned hospital pale in comparison in terms of danger.."</p>

<p>Let's leave my ex wife out of this !!!!!!</p>

<p>Gene, this is absolutely brilliant. Importantly, you knew what you wanted to do and you did it. You really captured the essence of the place. </p>

<p>Great shots Gene. Did you go in there by yourself?. The hallway looked like a scene from the new series "Walking dead" pretty creepy.</p>

 

<p>Gene, I always wanted to shoot there. I live about an hour away. Can't the police station see that old campus from their window? Looks like you got one of the 'good' Holgas. Extra craptastic. Mine is only normal craptastic.</p>

 

<p>Yes. The cops are nearby. That's the risk I take for you guys.</p>

Yeah...looks like a pre-frontal lobotomy mill to me. Consider me creeped out. Good photos although I'm sleeping with

the lights on tonight.

<p>On Photonet there there is a wide range of photographic thinking. Some, perhaps like me, are gear-heads who use a certain camera for the sake of using it. There are also the "Everything is worthless if it ain't art" folks and can define "art" pretty strictly. Then there are people like A. T. Burke who have used the camera to snapshot his life, family and society in general from before the great depression, through several wars, through the Ozzie and Harriet 50s, the Populux Era, the hippy generation, space exploration and even the final death throes of Kodachrome (which was dear to his heart) etc. and can now use the results to jog his memory in his final and fading days. And, BOY, can some of the people in the photographic extremes disagree in intense anger!</p>

<p>However there is certainly merit in using the right tool for the right job. It is just as true in photography as in surgery and/ auto repair. In that regard, amongst your many other fine posts, this one certainly meets the right tool criteria near the 100% level and in skilful hands has produced a magnificent effect.</p>

<p><br />P.S. There are also some of us Photonetters who might think you tweaked our wry sense of humor by using a Holga in a nut house.</p>

<p>I'm a totally humorless man. Laughter is bad for you. Haven't you heard the expression "I almost died laughing ?"</p>

<p>I <em>do</em> thank you for the kind words though.</p>

Your doing incredible work .. I don't know what was more deserving ;You, the Holga or the defunct Mental Ward.. It all fits so well!!