When I returned to Egypt in August 2014 after studying civic engagement in the US, I found a country of failed revolution and lost aspirations; a country polarized and torn apart following three years of protests and clashes.
Willard Psychiatric Center began its life in 1869 as Willard Asylum for the Insane, closing down over 125 years later in 1995. Thousands of long-term patients passed through its doors, and when the center was shut down, it was discovered that hundreds of suitcases belonging to some of its earliest residents had been set aside and forgotten in one of the hospital's attics.
Those suitcases and their contents have been preserved, catalogued and, thanks to photographer Jon Crispin and his compelling Willard Asylum Suitcases series, now they have been photographed as well.
Official presidential photographers lead exciting lives. President Obama's photographer Pete Souza attends secret meetings and captures iconic photos. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's personal photographer was arrested last year after being accused of being a spy for Russia. Now Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's photographer is the latest to do something noteworthy: he defected to the United States.
Washington Times video producer Drew Geraci created this amazing time-lapse video of an asylum that was abandoned decades ago.