Kate Broderick Photography

BEHIND THE WALLS IS DONE!!!

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:10:00 +0000

Everyone! It has finally happened! After three years of painstaking work,is finally finished and up for sale RIGHT HERE on Blogger.Comment, email me, tell me you love me and you're proud of me!!

I Wish It Was Spring....

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 13:43:00 +0000

Oh how I wish it was spring... Yet every time it warms up, I turn off my heat, and hang up my sweater, and I wind up freezing! Instead I take photos that make me feel like it could possibly be spring...

Danvers State Hospital Redux

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:12:00 +0000

Danvers State Hospital, one of the most famous (infamous) Kirkbrides, was converted into condos this past year and opened its doors to its new residents. The Kirkbride still looks remarkably the same, still standing, looking out over the hill that was once its kingdom. So here's a modern take on the original Castle on the Hill.

Open and Shut Case

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:55:00 +0000

The second installment of Grafton State Hospital became all about the doors and windows. A friend of mine said that one of his favorite aspects of my photography is how I play with light and as I've said before, I've begun keeping that in mind when I shoot. Because there is so very little left in this hospital, my eye was drawn to the doors and windows and the way the sun was flooding through.

When I walked into the day room on the second floor I immediately set my camera up to take this shot. The attic above had collapsed onto the third floor, causing the second floor roof to give way and cause this little mini collapse. Between the sunlight and the puddled water on the tile, this made for a great window shot with a hint of reflection on the floor.

Blue seemed to be one of the dominant colors on this floor and though it was obvious that this shot had been staged previously, I still was not going to pass up such a beautiful shadow play with the open drawers and the light streaming through the window in this linen closet.

Each isolation room had a small hole cut into it for the staff to look in on the patients. This struck me as I was walking by and I decided to take a shot that would hopefully transform the otherwise exceptionally plain room into something a little more interesting.

New Colors

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 00:46:00 +0000

I rarely have an exploration that turns out to be as productive as this past week but I revisited Grafton State Hospital and took so many photos with which I'm perfectly pleased with that I will have to divide them into two posts!

Grafton was once a satellite farm colony belonging to the Worcester State Hospital but came into its own in the early 1900's.

The hospital is best known for one particular hallway that, when photographed, results in a bright green tinge that prompts most photographers to title it "Green State". This time however, I noticed that some of the other hallways were also rich in yellows, blues, and pinks.

And this last, somewhat off the cuff, avant-garde shot came from one of my exploring partners looking up and noticing the half round mirror at the top of the gated staircase in the newer portion of the building. Getting to the new part was difficult and wound up being quite a workout but all in all, the day was worth it. More to come!

By the Bay

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 20:09:00 +0000

A beautiful, stately home by the water in a small bay town, this residential home for the Deaf has sat empty for quite some time. Damaged badly by a chemical explosion a few years ago, most of the building is still in tact but it seems construction crews have recently swept through and begun removing many elements from the building. It was lovely to see it again and take a few more photos but I have to assume it will be gone relatively soon.

The light fell just right on the beautiful anaglypta wallpaper on the staircase that was painted a lightly blue tinged white.

This shot had obviously been staged by another photographer but it was still a nice shot. The envelopes came from a file closet that once held patient information as far back as the early 1900's.

As I Sleep in the Snow

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:03:00 +0000

Yesterday was bitterly cold and the biting wind swept snow over every surface but that didn't mean I was going to stay at home. Instead I ventured out to a small institution in Western Mass to show a friend one of the buildings I frequently enjoy shooting. Unfortunately the elements had done quite a bit of damage and many of the floor had collapsed so we had to tread carefully. I did however take a few photos that I was pretty pleased with.

Wedding Dreams

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 03:33:00 +0000

Dreams of white, soft flowing love

Making vows with a witness above

In tree shaded alleys

Of sunlight and dew

I stand in the fields

And pledge myself to you.

Two lives together

A bond that can only bend

Days to never break

My heart in your hand.

To have and to hold

For the rest of our years

Making promises

For everyone to hear.

Winter White in Petersham

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 02:23:00 +0000

The outside of the Nichewaug Inn, also known as the Maria Assumpta Academy, makes for a beautiful set of winter white photos taken on what was perhaps one of the coldest weekends I've encountered in quite a while!

Maria Assumpta Academy

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 03:04:00 +0000

The Nichewaug Inn was built in 1899 by James W. Brooks, a prominent citizen of the town of Petersham, Massachusetts.

A beautiful, shingled Adirondack style building, the Nichewaug served for years as a destination vacation spot in West Central Massachusetts.

In 1952, the Nichewaug was purchased by the Sisters of the Assumption and a brick addition was built onto the back of the inn. It was reopened as Academie de Maria Assumpta.

Quarante et Deux

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 01:50:00 +0000

Here is a second attempt on the diptych I posted last night. I got rid of the pixellation and am much better pleased with this one!

Firestone Canada

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:31:00 +0000

The floor of the Firestone Tire Factory in Hamilton, Ontario has a characteristic greenish glow that seems to be common in tire factories. Much like Uniroyal Tire in Chicopee, MA the production floor is wide open with a filmy green coating on the windows.

Brendan was walking across the frozen production floor as I was setting up this long exposure. I made him stop long enough to take this shot, a frame I'm now very pleased with.

Hamilton

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 01:22:00 +0000

Often the mark of a successful shoot is being able to feel the moment in the finished product. This hallway shot is by far one of the most successful shots of my trip to Ontario. It was beyond freezing, snow blowing sideways on the biting wind when we went to see the last remaining building of this old hospital. There wasn't much left to the building but I stopped in the hallway and set up this shot, inadvertently capturing the snow blowing in through the ceiling. The colors are deep and rich against the snow and the details of the photo are crisp and exciting, much like the whole day.

This church was demolished recently, the front being the only portion being saved as an historical landmark. It was the first time I took my camera out on my trip, forcing everyone to be patient while I played the temperamental artiste in order to capture this unique remainder of this building.

And last but not least, to wrap up this post, a new and developing interest it seems is photographing trains. Often one finds a love in trying something that interests those they love so here are two more attempts at shooting the rails!

For Jay

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 02:20:00 +0000

WSH Night Shot

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:56:00 +0000

While waiting to meet up with some friends from Canada I decided to take a night shot of the Worcester State Hospital clocktower. The road in front of the clocktower is closed now due to construction which made it difficult to find a good angle to shoot from, but in the end, this was the best vantage point to capture the stars and the beautiful pink in the night sky.

Ruby Slippers

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 04:57:00 +0000

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 23:40:00 +0000

Merry Christmas!

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 19:53:00 +0000

Hudson Composite

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:12:00 +0000

Yet another fantastic composite creation by designer John Grogan. This time he even managed to get me into the photo as Nurse Ratched watching over patients in the day room.

First Snow

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 22:32:00 +0000

The first snow of the year came last night and since I won't have to work again for quite some time (thanks to both the weather and the holiday), I hopped in the car and took a few snow shots.

Composite

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:42:00 +0000

A friend and very talented designer was going through some of my older work on my website and found this hallway shot I had taken of Kings Park a few years ago. We had been talking earlier this weekend about people who took photos of abandoned buildings and layered other images over them, resulting in an image that looked half abandoned, half original. In the end, John came up with this finished product on the right, showing an eerie, almost transparent vision of life in Kings Park.

It Was a Time

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:18:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a roll of film that had been sitting in my Pentax for months before I finally got around to developing it. I grabbed it from Hunts where they explained that the company that processed my E9 film wasn't able to scan the frames onto CD so I had to wait until today to scan the negatives myself. I have to say, it was like Christmas come early when I saw not just these fantastic shots of Nubble Light in Maine, but also a few shots of Worcester State Hospital, now long gone. So enjoy!

Worcester State Hospital just before construction began earlier this year. This round building, the Hooper Turret is one of the buildings that will be saved

Consistent with my typical moments of stupidity, it was either too cold for my film camera the day I shot this, or it could have been the hot tea I spilled on the camera...or I could have just loaded the film wrong. But this frame, despite being fuzzy and not quite what I originally had in mind, really came out great. The edges have an odd mist from the angle of the film when it fed through the camera and it looks like something I could possibly have found on the floor in the theater.

A doorway at Monson Developmental Center. Again, the frame didn't feed correctly but still created a pretty interesting vintage effect.

The View Through the Cemetery Trees

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 01:28:00 +0000

I apologize for overloading the number of shots on this set but for once I managed to process all of the photos I took the same day and I also figured out how to plug in the html direct from my Flickr account!

Mother nature ushered in the weekend under a shroud of rain and heavy fog. I decided to drive home to visit my parents and as I slowly made my way through the pea soup hanging over the town of Shutesbury, I took a detour to a beautiful old cemetery that had wisps of mist wrapped around every tree and every headstone.

The gate on the main road of Shutesbury is a beautiful old New England rock wall with a wrought iron gate in the middle. The town was so quiet that only one car passed me as I stood on the opposite side of the tiny two lane road, shooting away.

Rock walls are a hallmark of the New England landscape and this cemetery's boundaries are marked by low piles of stone that stretched back farther than I could see.

This obelisk caught my eye with the backdrop of fog and the bright red, white, and blue of the American Flag. With a little PhotoShopping I created what looks almost like a painting out of one of my favorite photos of the day.

Across the street from the main cemetery was another smaller "yard" with a mausoleum nestled in between a triangle of trees, almost perfectly symmetrical.

Insufficient Shelter

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 03:18:00 +0000

Another site that shall remain nameless, this massive structure is one that I'm not sure I would even risk going inside of. It's been a long time since I've seen this kind of damage on a building. And though it makes me sound very old, back in the day I might have risked this place for the perfect shot but on this particular day, I decided to simply settle for an exterior.

A Patient's Last Look

SeekingAsylumRedux@gmail.com (Kate Broderick Photo) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 03:03:00 +0000

Sorry for the long absence but I haven't had much of a chance to just take off with my camera lately. This shot will remain unlabelled as my quick visit to this campus came complete with a police escort off the grounds. However, there was something about this shot that really spoke to me as I circled the one and only abandoned building at this hospital. Between the perspective of the fence and the open door, it just felt very surreal to me.