My friend David sent me the link about this photographic project and the pictures are amazing and the story is even more amazing. If you were committed to a psychiatric institution, what would you take with you? From the 1910s through the 1960s, many patients at the Willard Asylum for the Chronic Insane in New York State left suitcases behind when they passed away, with nobody to claim them. Upon the center’s closure in 1995, employees found hundreds of these time capsules stored in a locked attic. Working with the New York State Museum, former Willard staffers were able to preserve the hidden cache of luggage as part of the museum’s permanent collection.
Photographer Jon Crispin sought the museum’s permission to document each case and its contents. In 2011, Crispin completed a successful Kickstarter campaign to help fund the first phase of the project, which he recently finished. Next spring, a selection of his photos will accompany the inaugural exhibit at the San Francisco Exploratorium’s new location. See the article Dave sent me from Collectors Weekly here and a link to John Crispin’s series here
12/8/2012 | Posted by Eye Forward
Categories: Fashion
Tags: http://joncrispin.com/Welcome.html, http://www.exploratorium.edu
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