Throughout history, human beings have adapted their environment by designing and creating spaces for many different uses. Over time, they are often vacated quickly when they are no longer needed. These buildings may sit idle or empty for years or decades when they outlive their usefulness. This triggers a long process of deterioration, which starts slowly. With continued exposure to the elements, the decay can accelerate. It can also be brought to an end if the building is restored or demolished. The textures of decay are beautiful, beginning with peeling paint, and progressing to damaged plaster, bricks and wood, along with signs of reclamation by nature. I find it fascinating to explore these structures and document their state at a single point in time, as they are always changing.
Once the homestead of a proud and successful family in Western Massachusetts, Grannie’s house, a veritable time capsule awaits its date with a demolition crew. The house fell in to disrepair over the years and has been deemed beyond reasonable repair.
In the woods of Western Pennsylvania is a a collection of abandoned Trolley Cars. These cars are mostly call PCC cars, a standard design used widely across the country after World War II. As time marched on, Trolley services were shut down, and those that remain generally use cars that have much higher capacities. Some of these cars solider on in Boston and San Francisco 75 years later. The retired cars in Pennsylvania have sat in the woods for decades, time, vandals and graffiti artists have not been kind to them.
Interestingly the site has a separate story of abandonment. It was originally a repair shop for coal hoppers owned by a coal company. The coal industry in Pennsylvania had mostly collapsed by the late 20th Century. The property found a second life while these trolley cars were parted out to keep others running. The second life of the property, has come to an end.
The Catskill Game Farm Opened in 1933, and was the first privately- owned Zoo in the country. It continued as a family venture until it closed in the fall of 2006. The site is currently open to visitors select weekends, and some redevelopment is under way. Images shown here were captured in June and September of 2018.
The Mohawk River Valley features many run down mill towns scattered from the Capital Region of New York State to points west. In these small cities and towns, there is a wealth of material worthy of documentation.
Saratoga Springs, New York, is home to many naturally occurring springs. For many years, this drew many tourists who sought to take advantage of the waters’ possible health benefits. Several bathhouses were built in what is now the Saratoga Spa State Park. Over the last several decades, use of the bathhouses spa facilities has declined, leaving only one open bathhouse. After many years of abandonment, Roosevelt II Bathhouse is currently undergoing renovation for new uses. These photographs were captured in the Summer of 2017.
Tahawus is an abandoned mining site located deep in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York. Most of the few remaining houses are hidden in the woods, and look like they won’t withstand another winter season. Photographed the fall of 2017
