'Pic'-ing the Ruins

As someone who has had a long time obsession with the Chernobyl ruins in Pripyat, I sort of love this website, Opacity, which photographically archives abandoned structures.

But, not only does it display beautiful photos of buildings in decay, it also digs deep into the history of each location. If you peruse the pages, you can find information about Rathen State Hospital, for example, which was founded by noted social reformer Dorthea Dix in 1848. The entry on Rathen goes on to tell us that Dix actually spent the last years of her life as a patient at the institution she helped establish. And, of course, the biography explains why the various buildings became abandoned, as well as their architectural styles and motifs previous to the slow creep of decline.

Other recent additions include the Buffalo Central Terminal and Lowe’s Kings Theatre in Brooklyn. This project is incredibly worthy for obvious reasons. Remarkable buildings worldwide are under constant, if necessary, threat. So, at least their images should be preserved on the internet. One lesson we’ve surely learned, ad nauseum, since and before the San Francisco quake is that evidence of the past can be obliterated rather quickly. Perhaps we should each “save” what we can.