Abandoned America June Updates Hi everyone, as always I wait too long to send out email updates and then realize when I do that there's so much that it's a little overwhelming. so in the interest of keeping this one readable I've condensed a lot! Here goes: - New and/or Improved Galleries: I don't think I fully realized how much I've added in the past two months until this update. The Abandoned America website has been undergoing a pretty enormous overhaul with quite a few brand new galleries and even more that have had new pictures added and the old ones remastered as part of my push to bring older images and galleries up to current standards:
- Business and Industry: Brand new galleries include the beautifully overgrown Fort Pitt Casting, which was demolished recently; the Catskill Game Farm, which was once the largest privately owned zoo in the US; the Variety Theater, which I raised about $1000 for in a workshop in April; and the prestigious Bell Labs in Holmdel, NJ, where most of our modern technology was developed. Remastered and expanded galleries include: the enormous Billmeyer Limestone Quarry complex; Portside Power Plant and Baltimore Gas and Electric's Westport Generating Station, both of which are high on my list of most amazing places I've been to; and my original 2006 set of images from Bethlehem Steel, well before many of the buildings were destroyed or converted into the casino that is now on the property.
- Government and Social Institutions: I finally added a huge Greystone Park Psychiatric Center gallery spurred largely by New Jersey's shameful ongoing demolition of the beautiful Kirkbride building. I also added a substantial amount of images to the Tome School gallery, added to and re-edited many of the Pennhurst State School images, and entirely redid the Essex County Jail Annex gallery.
- Residential and Religious: Pleasure Beach, CT was a tragic tale of an entire devastated community and I had always wanted to finish the small gallery on it I had done. It's now completely overhauled and much, much larger - one of the few galleries I consider truly complete on my website. I also added and revised a substantial portion of the Church of the Transfiguration gallery.
- Workshops: The workshop season started with great spots and a bunch of great photographers. I'll admit the March sessions were pretty frigid, but thankfully we've had beautiful weather for the recent ones. If you'd like to check it out follow this link or scan through them below, you can also see the Facebook page for people to post photographs from them here:
- Scranton Lace Company (Scranton, PA 8/2/15): I am surprised and excited to have the chance to offer workshops at Scranton Lace again this year; it's extremely popular in part because it's so enormous you could visit it dozens of times and still see new features.
- Old Game Farm (Catskill, NY 7/2/15): The Catskill Game Farm was a pretty special place to a lot of people. It's on its way to becoming a campground/music venue, so if you want to spend the day photographing the remains now's the time to do it!
- Victory Theater (Holyoke, MA 6/27/15): Matt Lambros of After the Final Curtain joins us in a truly spectacular theater that has been abandoned for nearly 40 years.
- Pennhurst State School (Spring City, PA 8/1/15): Pennhurst is consistently sold out and the reason is that it's an amazing place with a disturbing past.
- Trolley Graveyard (7/11/15 and 8/9/15): Another favorite, this spot is just beautiful. There's so much to photograph and it's just a really fun area to visit as well. These tend to sell out pretty fast too.
- "Abandoned America: The Age of Consequences" Here's the obligatory mention of my recent book, here's the Amazon link, and here's where you can buy a signed copy on my website. I'd also like to point out among other press (and 109 reviews on Amazon with a 4.9 average!) there was recently a wonderful review by Ed Voves, who has interviewed and written reviews of works by some of my literary heroes on his Art Eyewitness column.
- Gallery displays and Upcoming Events: I had a great time presenting on my book and work at the Ned Smith Nature Center in Millersburg, PA on May 29, and my work will be on display there until the end of June. I am also going to be presenting at the Kansas City Public Library in Missouri on July 16th, and had a great time in April meeting everyone at the Philadelphia Book Art Fair in April. I'm always happy to discuss booking speaking engagements, just send me a note!
Thanks again for following my work and for supporting it! Like Sarah Winchester, I'm always toiling away at building the mansion of madness that is my website and I hope you'll keep checking back as it's always changing.
Sincerely,
Matthew Christopher
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