We had stories from Central State Hospital in the paper earlier this month compliments of Travis Fain and Grant Blankenship. Brought back memories from the time Don Schanche and I spent time there for a series we did. We spent weeks working on our product, not every day at the hospital but quite a lot of time. We were given a lot of freedom by the hospital administration, with the only limits hinging on patient confidentiality. 
At the time it was one of the biggest and best projects I had been involved in. The first time I really argued with the editors for a whole story to be illustrated in black and white. After a few days shooting, black and white seemed the only way to go.
This was a very hard yet rewarding story to cover. I grew a lot as a journalist and as a person. I realized what a fine line there is between being "Normal" and needing help. It was sometimes a scary place to be.
Also got rid of a lot of misconceptions I had about how the State cares for our mentally ill. Not like the "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" There were a lot of dedicated overworked people doing something they really believed in.
I hope we educated a few folks with our stories.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Central State Hospital
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1 comment:
I used to live in Macon and always enjoyed your photos. Just looking through all of your photos now. You are awesome! This one photo at Central State of the two residents huddled in the chair..........makes me think that they chose the chairs to be in because it gives them the feeling of being held? I work in a long term care facility in Oklahoma and I see the need the residents have for being held, loved, etc. Awesome pictures!!
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