Stephen Wilkes: Ellis Island-Ghosts of Freedom

While at the Cultural Center I came across another exhibition. It was a series of about 30 large scale photographs taken by Stephen Wilkes, between 1998 and 2003. These photographes were of the long abandoned hospitals of the south side of Ellis Island. As we all know Ellis Island is the iconic entrance of the United States through which over 12 million immigrants passed between 1892 and 1954. It was the gateway to Promise Land. Although it was not as easy to get in as you may think. People who were sick were quarentined and treated. Some were cured and others were not, imprisoning them a step away from their Paridiase. Wilkes visited and took photos of the infectious disease and psychiatric hospital. He became obsessed with it and came back many times. Taking photos at of everything possible, at every angle and, light. The decaying corridores and mold covered walls are personification of death.