Henryton, MD

On Saturday, Jeff, Steve and I drove up to Maryland to visit Henryton, an abandoned hospital , empty since 1985, and once used as a tuberculosis treatment center for African Americans then later as a sanatorium. 

 On the way up, I95 moved very slowly as a forest fire in Laurel had spread to a mulch store and the strong winds were blowing the smoke across the highway making visibility non existant.
The hospital has been badly vandalized since it's closure but many areas still lend plenty of opportunities for atmospheric photos and I decided that this this set of images would be black and white to enhance that.

I took along this photo of my grandfather in his RAF uniform and my old rosary to create a poignant image. 

There was still snow and ice lingering from the last storm and we had heavy winds with gusts up to 60mph. Throughout the hospital we could hear windows and doors slamming as we walked along the dreary dusty and dark corridors. I was glad I wasn't alone, often needing to call out to the others to make sure they were close by.

Jeff coming out of the main building.

An electrical pole was down and my jeans got soaked as I lay down to incorporate it into the photo.

A Dalek! Scarey! I used to be petrified of these as a child and even as an adult would not want to see a real one. My model seemed perfectly at home here.

We saw a few others walking around the grounds but we mostly had the place to ourselves. There are many postings online about the hospital being haunted and with today's blustery weather accompanying the many sounds emitting from the buildings, they were easy to believe. I felt more comfortable being outside than in the crumbling rooms even though I had two strong guys with me.

Towards the end of our visit I picked up this small piece of broken mirror and propped it up in a window to take a photo. I kept it afterwards and plan to use it for future reflective shots, it could make an interesting set.

Jeff took this photo of me and Steve larking about. 

We decided to leave once Steve muttered the word 'beer'. It started playing on our minds and with the temperatures dropping, a beer and some warm food seemed like an excellent idea. And of course, by now it's part of the exploring routine.

This is the only color photo of this set. I loved that the only vivid color here was the sky reflected in the glass ball, another of my now regular props. I had purchased glow sticks, party poppers and bubbles but used none of them on this visit, but they will keep for the next outing.
On the way home we stopped at a small restaurant called Seibel's where we all had the fried chicken, the best I've ever had and an awesome homemade ice cream pie. The fires were still causing havoc on the roads home so it was a very tired but 'glad to be home' group that piled out of the car and into their warm homes when we got back to Centreville. I still feel another trip will be made to Henryton when it's warmer, I left many untaken photos behind.