{"id":269097,"date":"2025-11-03T16:05:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T16:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/269097\/"},"modified":"2025-11-03T16:05:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T16:05:10","slug":"a-photographer-spent-18-months-documenting-an-la-psychiatric-hospital-in-the-1970s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/269097\/","title":{"rendered":"A Photographer Spent 18 Months Documenting an LA Psychiatric Hospital in the 1970s"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/a>Photographer Merrick Morton made frequent visits to the Metropolitan State Hospital in Los Angeles for 18 months. <\/p>\n

In 1979, photographer Merrick Morton (@merrickmortonphoto<\/a>) received a California state grant to document the Volunteer Program at a psychiatric hospital in Los Angeles, a project that led him to return again and again over the next year and a half.<\/p>\n

Warning: Some of Morton\u2019s photos are distressing. Viewer discretion is advised. <\/p>\n

Morton\u2019s brief was to capture a series of photos that could be used in a \u201cslide presentation\u201d \u2014 a PowerPoint in today\u2019s parlance \u2014 that could be used to recruit members of the public willing to spend time with the patients for socialization purposes. <\/p>\n

The facility Morton was assigned was the Metropolitan State Hospital in the city of Norwalk, Los Angeles County. It opened in 1916 and still operates today \u2014 although parts of it has fallen into disrepair. <\/a><\/p>\n

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Morton tells PetaPixel that the project was supposed to be for a period of three to four weeks, in which time he would photograph patients, staff, and volunteers. But he wound up hanging around for a lot longer. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was issued a passkey to both chronic and acute locked wards,\u201d Morton explains. \u201cI mainly photographed on the weekends when the admin offices were closed.\u201d <\/p>\n

The photographer says he \u201cbecame lost in the system\u201d and extended his documentation of the hospital to a year and a half, without the main office finding out. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey became aware of me on a Sunday when certain staff did not know me, and notified the administration,\u201d Morton says. \u201cThroughout my stay, I became friends with both the staff and certain patients.\u201d <\/p>\n

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Morton recently shared the photos on his Instagram page<\/a> where they received high praise, mixed with sadness. \u201cLife isn\u2019t always a bowl of cherries,\u201d writes one person. <\/p>\n

Morton reflects that \u201cin an odd way,\u201d the ward\u2019s inpatients and staff became family to him over the course of 18 months. \u201cI was allowed to capture pain and joy, often with a sense of humor that flowed within these walls,\u201d he adds. <\/p>\n

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Around the same time Morton visited, a groundbreaking documentary called Hurry Tomorrow (1975) filmed at Norwalk caused a stir after it depicted patients being overly-drugged.<\/a> But conditions have vastly improved at the Metropolitan State Hospital since then. <\/p>\n

Morton is one of LA\u2019s finest photographers who, as well as taking stills for motion pictures, has documented the lives of Mexican-American mobsters<\/a>. He also founded Fototeka, which gained access to the LAPD photo archives.<\/a> His Instagram page<\/a> is well worth a follow. <\/p>\n

Image credits: Photographs by Merrick Morton<\/p>\n