If you didn’t know any better you’d think Neil Krug’s photographs were from sometime in the 1970s. So whimsical and beautiful, his style and imagery could almost be stills from an Alejandro Jodorowsky movie.

(All images from Neil Krug)

Check out his flickr site for more photographs.

So approximately 4 years ago  around May in the evening,  I took my boyfriend who had recently moved to Vancouver to go see the grounds of Riverview Hospital (the largest mental institution in North America). There are several buildings throughout the 1,000 acres of Riverview. You’re normally not supposed to drive through there but we did anyway. There are security guards that drive around the grounds so we decided to park the car somewhere & we got out. We stumbled upon the West Lawn building. West Lawn is located at the core of the hospital grounds, right beside the active (Riverview still houses several hundred patients) Centrelawn building , which has the pharmacy in it, again meaning more security in that area of the Riverview grounds. The West Lawn building was built in 1913 & was closed in 1983. [Pictured here in 1915] the building was fenced in, so we hopped the fence & took pictures of the building & its boarded up windows. The whole building omitted this creepy aura. We wandered around this huge building for a while, taking more pics. the building was well sealed, with the first 2 floors boarded up almost entirely & then we discovered a window that was boarded up but was slightly loose.So we ripped it off & entered into the basement of this building…

The building, overall, was in quite a state of decay. everywhere, roof tiles and flooring was coming apart and it was almost impossible to find a wall with no peeling paint. The bottom floor was a complete shambles, with most rooms falling and/or torn apart.

Broken glass and other things littered the floors in lots of places. The constant crackle of broken light bulbs underfoot echoed through the halls. Some sections on the bottom floor had been painted all silvery, most likely from when they had done filming in here years ago ( before they stopped access to the building due to the asbestos and deterioration of the building in general).

Please keep in mind when you see these pictures that we did not have any source of light besides the light coming from my boyfriend’s digital camera. I swear this place was haunted.

“West Lawn Building – This building is no longer used for Patient Programs“

This is where we crawled in.

Self-Portrait!

What I think is an elevator…

We should’ve been wearing these, the musty smell & presence of Asbestos was incredible.

I seriously shrieked when the flash went off & I saw what this hallway looked like.

Seeing this made me realize it really wasn’t the greatest idea to be in there without masks

Don’t call Rick, he probably doesn’t work there anymore

This was at the very top floor.The floor was severely decayed. We had to test it first before walking on it. I was so scared that I was going to fall through the floor. This giant room with tiny little rooms. All the doors were labeled with room numbers such as “A. 4.A” as above. The rooms were smaller than a closet. You could not lay down. The thought of people being locked up in there blows my mind.

You guys need to realize we were walking through this in the PITCH BLACK & stupid me was wearing flip flops!

Little crosses hanging on the wall

Hazardous materials suits, hmmm

Tell me how to get to the Tunnels…I want to go!

We were in there for maybe a total 40 minutes, it would’ve been longer but we were quite unprepared, I was wearing flip flops, we had no light, no masks & our lungs/eyes started to really burn. We had plans on going back & exploring the tunnels but that has never happened…yet?

Seriously, what a thrilling experience!

Last week I had all four of my wisdom teeth out and was staying at my parents’ house. While I was there my sister came to visit and we were on the computer and she showed me some pictures and articles she had looked up on post mortem photography from the Victorian era. I have seen and heard about it but it wasn’t something I was extensively knowledgeable about, so I decided to look it up and read a bit more about it and found some of the most disturbing yet fascinating photographs.

I guess in the Victorian era it was extremely expensive to have your photo taken. Only the very rich could afford to. So when a family member died, especially a child, it was then normal to have their picture taken alone or even with family (!) to preserve their memory. They’d even go as far as making them look alive in the photographs by putting them in poses and by painting pupils on their closed eyelids.

Can you imagine being this little girl?

If you look closely you can see the stand propping the girl in the middle up and her eyes look painted

“Mother could not part with only daugther, Miss Jeanette Glockmeyer daughter whose above photo was taken 9 days after death” Creepy!!

What a strange custom, I can’t even imagine having to dress up your dead loved one and posing with them. So eerie and intriguing at the same time. I am quite glad we don’t do this nowadays though!

For my Typography II final project we had to come up with a creative concept and original way to express type. I decided to go the unconventional route and chose to do a photo series of my friends and their favourite words. These words were then going to be tattooed to their body by yours truly.  I thought to myself if Stefan Sagmeister can carve up his body full of type for the sake of design than surely I can tattoo some willing victims for the sake of a typography project!

I had seven incredibly helpful friends who let me put them through temporary pain with a needle and india ink and I can’t be grateful enough! Even though I am no tattoo artist and I have absolutely no experience with tattooing, I was extra careful and everything was thoroughly cleaned and sanitized and all participants were over the age of 18 years old and 100% willing.

So here they are with their favourite words.

[click to enlarge]

Photography by: Patrick Campbell
Assistant Photographer: Lauryn Youden

Thank you everyone who helped me do this!

Sorry for the lack of updates! It’s been a very hectic few weeks for me. Year end sales meetings at work, finals at school and we’re moving! I’m extremely excited to be moving, we’re moving into a bigger, brighter place and it’s only is a few blocks away from our current location which is good because I love our neighbourhood.   I can’t wait to decorate and hit up the antique stores & thrift stores.  It’ll be the first time that we can actually have a dining table in our kitchen and there are a few other things on my list that I know I’ll be wanting/needing but here are some images that are heavily inspiring me for my new home:

All images courtesy of Design*Sponge

I don’t know if I’ll be able to paint the walls in my new place but I’m feeling a lot of eggshell blues, oranges & reds as accents. I love prints and textiles to liven up a room. Once I start decorating my place, expect lots of pictures!

What does your house look like or what do you wish it looked like?