Jonny Donuts
We were so tempted to get donuts here. But we had just eaten the best fish and chips EVER at Steeles Corner House in Cleethorpes. So we just had an ice cream (with Flake). This is a beautiful little seaside town on the North Sea. Well worth the visit. I just love the deco design of this building.
Bishop’s Park Gents
Only some of you might be interested in this, but I have always enjoyed older public restrooms, especially here in Britain. This is the gents in the middle of Bishop’s Park. Beautiful tile, the urinals are all porcelain, no graffiti and clean. I am always a bit nervous about taking pictures in public facilities, but fortunately no one walked in on me. It would be a bit difficult to explain what I was doing.
Ellis Island Autopsy Room
I spent a lot of time in the Contagious Disease Hospital wing at Ellis Island on Wednesday. The wards were set up much like a lot of the Kirkbride asylums in which I have photographed. Some large ward rooms and some smaller single patient rooms. This photo is from the autopsy room. I took a shot from the lower angle which you can see below.
It is quite an evocative space.
Ellis Island
I had the rarest of opportunities yesterday. Pieper is giving a presentation on Ellis Island about the construction of the original buildings and he had me come out with him to take photographs to illustrate his talk. It was an incredible day, and I was mostly in a state of near rapture. I have always wanted to photograph the unrestored buildings on the island and am so grateful to Pieper and Darcy Hartman of Save Ellis Island for the chance. This photograph was taken in what I believe is called the Doctor’s (or Surgeon’s) residence. I’ll post more in the days to come. Here is some information on the talk: “The Actual Bricks and Mortar Story; Building Ellis Island’s Hospitals”. 10.30 to 12.30 on 15 April, 2012. It is open to the public but limited to 50 participants. For information, email information@saveellisisland.org For anyone interested in these buildings this is a unique chance to don a hardhat and take a tour of the usually off limits parts of the island.
Grand Central
Here’s another shot from Grand Central. I was a bit disorientated because I have been up on this balcony on the East side of the station many times. It always used to be just an open space with people milling around and taking pictures just like this one. It is an Apple Store now. As soon as you walk up the stairs, there is a greeter asking if you need help. Things change, I guess. A very long time ago Kodak used most of the wall behind me for a giant Kodachrome image. Now Kodak is bankrupt and Apple is in charge. Interesting.
Oyster Bar
Sorry, it’s been a while. / I took the Metro North train from New Haven to New York on Friday. I could have taken Amtrak from Springfield, but it goes into Penn Station and I prefer Grand Central. I arranged to arrive with time to spare, so I had some Cotuits and a pan roast at the Oyster Bar. / Just after my Kickstarter page went up, Zoe Crossland from Columbia University contacted me about coming down to give a seminar on the Willard suitcases project. She connected me with Brian Boyd who set it all up, and at 5.30 I was sitting in a room with a great group of faculty and students from the anthropology and archeology departments. I was hoping for lots of feedback and dialogue and wasn’t disappointed. I showed selected photos from what I have done so far and we had a great discussion. / Had a very productive day at the museum last Thursday and will be back shooting in the next few days.
Hudson River Psychiatric Center
I was in Poughkeepsie on Tuesday photographing at the recently closed Hudson River Psychiatric Center. I have been there many times and it was a bit sad to know that the facility was closing. / When I was shooting shuttered asylum buildings for my earlier projects, they were all from the 19th century. Those buildings and their contents came from such a markedly different time which was part of the reason it was such compelling work for me. When I was thinking about my photographs from Tuesday I realized that in the future, someone will look at this photo and have the same feeling. To our eyes, this isn’t such an unusual scene; fifty from now it will seem truly exotic.
GoPro
Cris dropped me off in Harrisburg where my good pal Peter Carroll picked me up on Friday morning. We drove down to DC to spend some time with his family. On our way we stopped in Dillsburg, PA at a great diner for a bite to eat. Peter and I have travelled together so many times, and it is always fun. He got this little GoPro video camera recently and has been goofing around with it. It also takes amazing stills.
Over the years we have taken so many goofy pictures of each other. Here’s another one. We didn’t try any of the cakes in the case, but I was sorely tempted.
Waffle House (again)
When Cris and I drove to South Carolina this year we left home late in the day and drove through the night as we usually do. We always joke about the IHOP-Waffle House line and how it mostly mirrors the Mason-Dixon line. The Waffle House breakfasts can be a bit on the greasy side, but there isn’t much choice on I-95. We were amazed to find an IHOP near Florence, SC so we stopped and ate at around 6.oo am. We got back on the road and a bit later we stopped for gas. We laughed because it was the same exit where we ate at a Waffle House last year. The sun had just broken through the clouds and the building looked great in the morning light.
Frozen Fenway
This past Saturday I shot the UMASS / Vermont ice hockey game at Fenway Park in Boston. My friend Thom Kendall was covering the action on the ice, and I had the luxury of just wandering around shooting whatever looked interesting. It was great fun to have the run of the place. It was the first official event in this, the 100th year of the park. So much history. / This panorama was taken from the “Green Monster”.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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