Cupolas From The Gray , Northern State

nothing left but a couple of cupolas. say that five times fast.
This was The Gray- gone but the aforementioned and the tiles of a floor.

Power Plant,Northern State Hospital

 The power plant where the Vaux's Swifts hang out on their southward migration.
check out some silhouetted bird pics at nature big nature small

Trevennen Hall, Northern State Hospital, Sedro Woolley

This was essentially the last stop  on our tour Trevennen Hall. We were meant to be going in but the black mold inside apparently too overcoming to expose anyone to.
Always one step closer with several steps further to go I guess getting inside this day may have been like eating all  the candy in the candy shop vomiting and then re eating it this way i want more.
obsessed , infatuated and enamored.
I may have said this before but i grew up in Buffalo where  i lived a few blocks from the Beautiful Kirkebride buildings (see also fantastic images and information on kirkbrides here )of the Buffalo Psychiatric Hospital - the Richardson Complex.
There were stories of visits to an aunt who was in there (i think she was epileptic) and there was just the majesty of the buildings and complex itself- that drove me to photograph the outside as a teenager.
 I haven't seen it or photographed it since I was 16.
It seems the intentions were good when these developments were being made. Check out "Asylum" by Chris Payne.
I heard someone say - not sure what backing they had in saying it but they did say "1/3 of the women in northern state were menopausal"  so menopause alone brought them here- 
i am sure my pms  would have had me here if i had been around a century ago.

Northern State Hospital Grounds on Photographic Tour

chapel window

the tour happened and it was a sunny day. busy but excellent glimpse of a place i have been wanting to see for three years.
the closed campus does not allow for this- so this was a once in at least a year chance.
do not try to sneak in here or just turn up - it won't work. you must wait for another opportunity, i will happily post what i hear on this blog.
12 o'clock for the photographic tour with more time allotted for  obsessive capturing of something so rarely seen to the outside. Tour began outside the Chapel.
I passed out some postcards and sold a few books of images of the place- thank you all for your support!
very nice to meet you those who stopped by to pick up a postcard, and have a chat!
 i was frenetic with the days events and find my photographic stride hard to find.giddy.
We met Noel of the Skagit River Journal (which has fantastic information on the locality!) who hired Talula for her first photographic gig!
Nice job - i certainly wasn't hired for anything at age 7.

This is where the tour began across from the Chapel (denny hall i believe) , on the covered walkway. we were quite a heard of photographers and needed managing by several handlers.
We couldn't move past certain points or photograph in certain other directions due to other happenings on this closed campus. so photographers hoarded round the best holes looking inwards each waiting to peep inside with their lenses.

i found the map at the bottom on another website

i liked this guy in the photo- sorry buddy you had to stay.

curtains for you.

i love film.