Evaluation

Exhibition 

I decided that I would display my work in a room mounted on canvas with all 12 of my images on each of the walls .

Preview :

My research into Urbexing and Abandonment Photography helped me to discover a wide range of photographers who's technique, approaches and image manipulation techniques are very unique .Photographers such as Andrew Moore inspired me from this abandonment collection , especially the series of images taken in Detroit .I Decided I wanted to Photograph Iconic abandoned buildings and try to capture the beauty of their character whilst the building still exists.

I was inspired by Niki Feijen who’s photography I admired her because of her ability to edit her images and because of how she staged people within the scene. I started researching Urbex and abandoned photographers in my local area whose work I admired and I signed up to a forum,28Dayslater.co.uk where photographers exchange details of their shoots and locations of iconic abandoned buildings . I particularly liked the work of Matthew Christopher’s because of the diversity in between what he shoots .For my first photo shoot I decided to photograph an abandoned fire station located in Warrington it had previously been abandoned due to there being a fire and the building being unable to use. I decided to photograph this because its not everyday you get to explore a fire station and I thought I would find some interesting things there. I started the shoot just past mid day and I had spent all day there I had explored the tower, the offices and what looked like the garages, This was a great experience and I found some significant items as you can see in my images from the shoot. This place could easily have been converted or used as something else, I gained some great images from this shoot and intend on going back to this location with models and starting another portfolio piece. 

My second photo shoot was at a old peoples home local to me in Winstanley I decided to go and shoot this because of the personal information it might have inside as this would create a good story for my abandoned building, I must admit the building was in terrible state as the roof was falling in and everything was smashed, however I continued and photographed the bedrooms kitchen , roof and corridors as you can see my images were dark and I had to edit these a lot using an HDR filter. 

I didn't feel as if this building was iconic so I decided to arrange another shoot of the Duke of Lancaster In Wales which is an abandoned ship I thought that this would have been perfect for the iconic status as the Duke of Lancaster was made by the makers of the Titanic. From my researched I knew it had been graffiti'd on, whilst photographing this magnificent ship my only thought was that this is not being used to its full potential and we should utilise abandoned buildings/ places for the public to access them .

The next Photo shoot I did was at an abandoned theme Park 'Camelot' I had seen on Photography websites and had read that it recently closed and had seen other peoples images of Camelot, However I was told that this was now used at a Police Riot training facility, after looking up on Google the Theme Park i decided to photograph and document this before it was destroyed, I was really impressed with this location as I got to see the whole of the building and a ride. I only had a limited time to get around the park before being leaving off the area, after processing the images I was pleased to add this to my abandonment documentary, 

I used my tripod and the lighting to my advantage on both of these shoots as you can see in my final images .My images are high quality because of the tripod and light exposure, I decided to add an HDR filter onto most of my images I did this because of the textures within abandoned buildings I think personally that the HDR filter makes the image pop adding more depth of filed and better contrast .

My research then lead to another two Photographer Matthias Haker and Andrew Brook’s work inspired me and from this I started to research into abandoned asylums, after days of contacting people on forums I had found two asylums one in Whittingham and the another in Denbigh, which both of the having extensive background in ghost witnessing and murders. I was careful and contacted the owners before entering these premises as these were very unsafe to enter and had an escort around the buildings however I was limited to time but gained great experience from this tour of the abandoned buildings.

I think this brief has exposed the gesture of utilizing these buildings and places for the public to gain access to. Some of my photo shoots were unsuccessful due to the condition of the building however as you can see in my final images there are plenty of abandoned buildings which could generate attraction in the public eye for renovation and making use of these chrematistic places/buildings we have.   

Photographers Research

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/photography/10421937/Photographing-the-worlds-most-fascinating-abandoned-buildings.html


Andrew Brooks

Abandoned Buildings by Matthias Haker

http://www.123inspiration.com/?s=Matthias+Haker

Urbex Photography: Digital Light Rays Brighten Abandoned Chapels

(All images by kiekmal, reproduced with permission)

Stories abound of rays of light shining through the stained glass windows of churches and illuminating a certain individual or specific flagstone on the floor. In these images, urban explorerand urbex photographer Kiekmal creates the effect digitally with striking results.

Despite their former religious and congregational purposes, abandoned churches and chapelsare often cold and melancholy places, where any hint of their past community spirit has long since dissipated.

While these ornate little chapels – attached to abandoned European monasteries – are essentially no different, the lighting helps return an element of hope despite the swift onset of urban decayand the uncertain future of their surrounding structures.

- See more at: http://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2012/05/urbex-photography-digital-light-rays-abandoned-chapels/#sthash.mhWg8DmD.dpuf

Denbigh Asylum

 Research into Denbigh

The North Wales Lunatic Asylum was the first psychiatric institution built in Wales; construction began in 1844 and completed in 1848 in the town of Denbigh. The U-shaped Tudorbethain style hospital was built due to the spreading word of mistreatment of Welsh people in English asylums; The North Wales Hospital would be a haven for welsh speaking residents to seek treatment without prejudice or a language barrier.

Renovations and extensions were made at the hospital from 1867 until 1956, when the hospital reached its maximum capacity at 1,500 patients living inside her walls and 1,000 staff at hand. Physical treatments such as Cardiazol, malarial treatment, insulin shock treatment, and sulphur based drugs were used and developed in the 1920s and 1930s, and 1941-1942 saw the advent of electro convulsive therapy (ECT) and prefrontal leucotomy (lobotomy) treatments. 

In 1960, Enoch Powell visited the North Wales Hospital, and later announced the "Hospital Plan" for England and Wales, which proposed that psychiatric care facilities be attached to general hospitals and favored community care over institutional settings. This was the beginning of the end for the North Wales Hospital and others like it; in 1987 a ten year strategy to close the hospital was formed. The North Wales Hospital was closed in sections from 1991 to 2002; most notable was the closure of the main hospital building in 1995.

On July 12, 2004, The Prince of Wales visited the hospital and administered a speech detailing his Phoenix Trust, a historic building trust that prevented the structure from being demolished. The hospital is currently slated to be converted into private homes. Asbestos abatement has started October 2008.

A book called Care and Treatment of the Mentally Ill in North Wales, 1800-2000, by Pamela Michael (2003, ISBN 0-7083-1740-5) describes the rise and fall of the North Wales Hospital from its origins in 1848 to its closure in 1995. The author uses patient case notes to discuss life in an asylum, to look at changing diagnostic and treatment patterns, and to explore the ways in which ordinary people understood and experienced mental illness. Through an examination of the ways in which disruptive behavior has been contained, she also considers the social and cultural meanings of mental illness in Wales over the past two hundred years.

 Storys about denbigh 

Our first visit to Denbigh was 31^st January 2009. We entered the grounds at approximately 4.30pm while it was still daylight. We were taken aback by the size and the grandeur of the buildings. It is truly an impressive sight. We were also saddened by how ruined it had become.

Once we were through we entered a huge room with pillars reaching the ceiling. The ceilings had loose wiring hanging down, and the paint on the walls was peeling. The windows although intact were rotting in their frames. There were still old fire exit signs and other small signs to prove that the building was once inhabited.

                            

While we were examining the downstairs room we could hear banging noises coming from upstairs. To start with we thought there were other visitors in the building.

Just off this large room was a solid concrete staircase leading to the next floor, so we thought we would go up and investigate.

There were no other people up there but the banging noise turned out to be the old sash windows banging in the wind. Some of the windows still had the original glass but others were sadly bare.

The building was in a similar state upstairs - walls peeling, dark, damp and gloomy. There was wallpaper hanging off the walls and moss growing on window ledges. Again there were still fire exit signs to prove it had once been inhabited.

                 

Our main interest was to find the old morgue so we ventured back downstairs. We found another corridor which led off to what we believe to be the old wards where the patients lived. In these wards there are separate cells, which again we believe to have been the seclusion zones for particularly ill patients (i.e.: padded cells)

We left this part of the building continuing our mission to find the morgue. We started to walk around the grounds of the rear of the building. Once we had walked round the back half of the building to our left hand side, up a few concrete steps, concealed in trees and bushes were some other buildings. We now know these to be the morgue and the chapel. As we were so excited about seeing the rest of the main building we decided to investigate these later (at this time we did not know that the buildings we had seen were the morgue - it was only after we got home and saw the plans we realised what we had missed!)

We then went over to what would have been the main hall. This was very easy to enter as now there are now no doors, windows, floor or even roof due to a fire in the building several months ago. It’s literally now a big pile of rubble. 

                  

The corridors and rooms which used to connect to the main building were still virtually intact so great for investigating.

It was in one of these rooms we unknowingly experienced our first phenomena at Denbigh. When we reviewed the video evidence once we had returned home we heard a strange noise. Please see video below (first sound). This noise however was not heard by the naked ear.

Although Denbigh could be a scary place we didn’t feel scared because we were in such awe of the building. We stopped and called out asking if anyone was there a few times but got no response.

By this time it was very dark.

We continued our investigation outside of the building using torches. We were attempting to access what at the time we believed to be the heart of the main building. This led us to walk around to the front of the building.

After walking back to the rear of the building we ended up back where the main hall used to stand. It was in this maze of corridors we actually got into the heart of the building.

The floors here and in the majority of the building were so rotten in places that only the joists remain.

                       

Although not really funny (but was at the time!!) one of our investigators fell through a small hole in the flooring but fortunately he was not injured.

We managed to get ourselves lost in a maze of corridors, rooms, halls and stairways and over an hour trying to find our way back out. During this time we called out regularly to ask if any spirit was there but again we heard nothing.

We then went into yet another building on the site, where again we were calling out. This time we experienced a small amount of activity.

We asked if anyone was there and if so to make a sound. After a couple of seconds we heard two taps which were caught on camera. Please see below.

After a few more minutes we asked again but this time only got a faint tap in response - again caught on camera but very faint.

Other than these experiences, off camera we heard doors slamming, which to start with we assumed was the wind until we closed the banging door securely but as we walked away it slammed loudly again. Sadly we did not catch this on tape or camera.

Altogether we were at Denbigh for approximately 4 and a half hours. Unfortunately most of this was in the dark and we would have loved to have been there in daylight.

We feel we missed so much - for example the morgue and the chapel where we have heard people to have experienced the most activity.      

             

Photo shoot 

My Photo shoot at Denbigh was a real success i shot this with my Nikon D7000 with my standard 23-105 lens, i also took my tripod and a torch as this is essential when in low lighting inside of the buildings, when i had arrived  Windows have been smashed, the roofs have caved in, extreme water damage and the flooring is rotting away.

Although parts of Denbigh are due to be demolished, the main buildings are grade II listed and home to bats which are protected.

I explored this Asylum for about 30 mins wondering from various rooms and floors , the place was gigantic and what a whole unit of housing for the staff behind the Asylum . i managed to see where they used to keep patient and wonder the halls of what was once a grand mental asylum . I should object there such as wheelchairs , beds and a lot of documents on the floors i tried to capture these in my images as i thought this was add some character into my abandoned shots . 

Whittingham Asylum Photo shoot

Research into Whittingham 

This site has been produced by Phil Knapman and Ken Ashton as a result of research into the origins and history, through to the closure of Whittingham Hospital. We would like to record out sincere thanks to all the people and agencies who have rendered us assistance in this project.

An extract from the booklet "Whittingham Hospital - One Hundred Years 1873 - 1973": "No matter what the future, Whittingham Hospital can hold its head high with pride. It has contributed to the welfare and comfort of countless people who otherwise would have spent their days in misery. It has played its part in the development of treatment for the mentally ill. It is still sturdy in stature capable of meeting any reasonable demands made upon it. It stands as a monument to the fact that wisdom does not decrease with age. 'For as much as all knowledge beginneth from experience, therefore also new experience is the beginning of new knowledge'....(Hobbes)

Whittingham Hospital opened officially on 1st April 1873, built by bricks made on site, the source being what became to be known as the "duck pond" but referred to on maps as the "fish pond". The kiln for the manufacture of the bricks was situated, apparently, in what is known "Super's Hill Woods", at the back of the hospital, on the road to Grimsargh. The hospital was built in four "phases", the first being St Luke's (the Main), followed by St John's (the Annex), then Cameron House, and lastly St Margaret's (the New or West Annex). In addition to these 'divisions' there was also a Sanatorium of fourteen beds built for Infectious Diseases, which became known as Fryars' Villa, later to become part of the accomodation for the resident staff. The hospital served the community for almost 150 years, and, in its' day, was a virtually self sufficient community.

Proposal for an additional Asylum within Lancashire was called for and, following decisions as a result of the Local Government Act of 1888, it was decided to build an Asylum. The first choice of site was just behind Fulwood Barracks in Preston, but this gave way to a preferential site at Got Field Farm, to be known as Whittingham. This site was chosen, primarily, because there was a good natural supply of fresh water more readily available than other sites, and it was within easy reach of Preston.

Photo shoot 

During this photo shoot I was taking reference from the100 abandoned houses by Bauman, I thought this photo shoot went well i did research into the building to find out that it held 1000's of mental patients and was currently all being reconstructed for an housing estate.