Category / Photography

by J Finley

Low Light

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by J Finley

Dream Files from Old New England

An excerpt from “Final Resting Place”.

My body violently jerks out of sleep. Like in the movies when you see someone wake up in a dream. It’s never happened to me before.

It’s happening right now and I feel it — perhaps the strangest sensation I have ever experienced. My body rises out of bed and makes its way to the downstairs back door as if being controlled remotely.

My body senses the disconnect and tries to kick into gear — catching up to current movement — but it can’t. It feels like I’m tripping and I hate that sensation. I don’t let it take over this time. This is meant to happen — don’t fight it.

I arrive at the back door as it swings open — the backyard is visible through tunnel vision and everything outside the radius is blurred. Tunnel vision — like the depression sometimes.

Refocus. This is beyond me and my thoughts. However, this dream is more informative than the others.

Even now, my thinking takes over. I stop and just wait, the expanse of the green before me. The backyard trees form a dark canopy gently lit by the dim moon. Just enough to see directly in front of me. Then something from the far right corner comes into view.

My hesitation almost tears me away, but I stay. Accept it.

And who approaches — none other than Buddy, the neighbor’s dog. He is not floating though, his pace is quicker and purposeful. He comes and sits about ten feet before me. His eyes are wide open and his mouth appears to be smiling — almost. He sits there for me simply to enjoy his presence. A joyous feeling takes over.

And almost as quickly as he appears — it’s over.

by Joseph Finley

Stuck in Time: The Abandoned Westborough State Mental Hospital

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Original Hospital Plan

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Campus Pencil Drawing

 

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The East wing of Building #23. The windows are covered with plyboard and a security fence outlines its perimeter.

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Building #23 – Another section of the massive main hospital – which house approximately 200 in-patients at any given time.

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Building #23. The front “visitors entrance” into the lobby of the main patient ward.

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A peak inside building #23

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Building #10. This structure predates the main patient ward and was the site of the original boy’s home on the campus grounds.

 

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The quiet and bare grounds of the abandoned hospital campus.

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Small trash door and show. A look inside the courtyard of building #23.

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Building #7 – Administration
This structure sits on the south side of the now abandoned Westborough State Mental Hospital campus – just a 3-minute stroll from the main patient ward at building #23. 
Here, staff would perform various administrative duties and rest during breaks from caring for the approximately 200 in-patients residing at the hospital at any given time.

 

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Building #7

 

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by Joseph Finley

Please Come Home

A 20-pound ball of empathy –

he is one of our marvelous creatures.

Has anything ever held a mirror up to your humanity

like an animal that loves or

an animal that fears?

Throughout history,

we have served each other’s purpose.

They are bred in our reflection

mutts at the core, wanting to be truly known,

begging for nourishment –

constantly.

*Chase — otherwise known as booter, booter-butt, chicken butt, or boo boo

by Joseph Finley

In like a lion – out like a lamb…

Aerial View of a Traditional New England Farmhouse (March 2018)

A traditional New England farmhouse and the surrounding property thaw from a series of March snowstorms.

This residence (built in 1914) was originally situated on a family farm located a few hundred yards due East, where Interstate 93 currently passes the Blue Hill of Massachusetts.

As construction on the highway began in 1954, this house (along with a few others) were relocated to this adjoining lot, located in the Boston suburb of Canton, Massachusetts.
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#snow #winter #tree #cold #wood #weather #outdoors #landscape #thaw #frost #ice #nature #travel #traveling #visiting #instatravel #instago #sky #daylight #scenic #aerialphotography #newenglandphotography #dronephotography #djispark #bluehillsreservation

by Joseph Finley

Great Blue Hill at Dusk

Commuters on Interstate 93 drive by the Great Blue Hill in Canton, Massachusetts – part of the larger Blue Hills Reservation, a 6,000-acre state park located roughly 10 miles southwest of Boston, Massachusetts.

The reservation covers parts of Canton, Milton, Dedham, Randolph, and Quincy and is one of the most expansive sections of protected conservation land in the metro area and a popular recreational area with a diverse ecology that includes marshes, swamps, upland and bottomland forests, meadows, and bogs.

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#aerialphotography #commuters #outdoors #exitramp #dusk #orangesky #road #seashore #architecture #nature #daylight #landscape #scenic #hill #vehicle #interstate #highway #twilightscapes #dronephotography #bluehillsreservation #recreationalarea #snowcovered #statepark #conservationland #dronestagram #aerialview #dji #dronephotooftheday #aerialaesthetics

by Joseph Finley

Long Shadows

This photograph was taken in January 2018 while on a hike in the Blue Hills reservation (Milton, MA). It reminds me of the opening credits from the anthology horror/sci-fi tv series from the 80’s; “Tales from the DarkSide”, as the credits end a blurry image of black and white trees appear, along with some haunting music.

Have you ever seen it?

When we were kids, my sister and I would watch this along with our other favorite show – “Unsolved Mysteries”. I wonder how much we’d like them today if we tuned in again? . . . . .

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by Joseph Finley

Stained Glass #1

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by Joseph Finley

Santa Gives me the Head Spins

<note reads>

Feb 13th

Mrs. Callahan,

Do you know this little boy? While standing in the line to have a picture taken with Santa, this little boy’s mom asked me to take his picture. But, I don’t know her! I forgot I had the picture until coming across it yesterday.

I believe he is new here and very shy. It seems like every time I see him, he is wearing that colorful sweater!

If you don’t know him, could you kindly give it to the office secretary? If I give it to Caitlyn (sp?) to hold, I’m afraid it will end up in Russia!

Thank You –

Noreen Floyd

 

I have zero recollection of any of this little Santa Clause setup, but I can tell you one thing.

I do recall that my mother “ghosted” that ugly yellow sweater from my laundry a few months after this photo was taken.

This was a practice wherein my mother would sneakily discard (steal) certain items of clothing because I would continually wear them, sometimes day after day.

One day it would be – wa-la! Joe has two brand new (more earth-toney) sweaters – magically hanging in the closet – or a new blue pair of tennis shorts to replace the purple that I originally favored – or whatever other articles of clothing needed replacing.

Since I craved predictability as a child, incidents like this might botheredme for a bit, but I eventually got over it and realized that yes – sometimes things need to be discarded instead of over-used, for the sake of public appearances.

One of those “pride” things I had no interest in, or time for since I just wanted to be comfortable and left alone to think about something.