The eerie beauty of abandoned asylums

A photographer captures glimmers of grandeur in America's shuttered mental institutions

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Seat cushions.
Asylum, 2009
(Image credit: Matteawan State Hospital (now Fishkill Correctional Facility) in Beacon, New York)

Straightjacket, 2007
(Image credit: Logansport State Hospital in Logansport, Indiana)

Bowling shoes, 2006
(Image credit: Rockland State Hospital in Orangeburg, New York)

Autopsy theater, 2009
(Image credit: St. Elizabeth Hospital in Washington, D.C.)

Mead building stairwell, 2008
(Image credit: Yankton State Hospital in Yankton, South Dakota)

Toothbrushes, 2005
(Image credit: Hudson River State Hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York)

Beauty salon, 2003
(Image credit: Trenton State Hospital in Trenton, New Jersey)

Seat cushions, 2009
(Image credit: Terrell State Hospital in Terrell, Texas)

Cemetery, 2005
(Image credit: Connecticut Valley State Hospital in Middletown, Connecticut)

Lauren Hansen
Lauren Hansen

Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.