Sanatorium: Inside the Architectural Cure for Tuberculosis - Photo Talk

Talk Highlights:

• Be among the first to see images from photographer John Lazzaro's new book, Sanatorium: Inside the Architectural Cure for Tuberculosis
• Hear behind-the-lens stories about how these stunning images were captured
• Uncover the history of America's forgotten sanatoriums and their role in fighting our first modern public health crisis
• See the last remnants of the sanatoriums right here in New York and across the nation

About this Virtual Talk:

Sanatorium is the first book to document the contemporary vestiges of former tuberculosis hospitals in the United States. Commemorating the visionary architecture that played a vital role in combating America’s first modern public health crisis, this thought-provoking photographic survey includes Adirondack Cottage Sanatorium in Saranac Lake, New York, America’s first sanatorium; Seaside Sanatorium in Waterford, Connecticut, the first children’s heliotropic treatment hospital; Molly Stark Sanatorium, Louisville, Ohio’s stunning Spanish Revival-styled tuberculosis hospital; and Sea View Hospital in Staten Island, the site of the pioneering antibiotic research for the cure for tuberculosis, among other sites around the country.

With a strong focus on sanatoriums in New York, this presentation will include John's approach to photography, inspiration for the project, and an educational and thought-provoking history of many of the sites visited and photographed for the book.

Sanatorium spotlights the historical significance of the existing structures as symbols of progressive ideas and civic responsibility which were constructed by like-minded physicians, philanthropists, and government officials. Most importantly the work documents how the quest for a cure led to the visionary architecture of hospitals and captures what remains – edifices abandoned and left to decay or forgotten and repurposed, before they ultimately
disappear.

About John Lazzaro:

John Lazzaro specializes in urban landscape photography and the documentation of the solemn beauty in abandoned buildings and vanishing architecture throughout New York State. As an author, photographer, and documentary filmmaker, he is fascinated by history, storytelling, and social awareness. His first book, The Walls Still Talk: A Photographic Journey Through Kings Park Psychiatric Center (2019), documented the decades of neglect and decay of Kings Park Psychiatric Center in Kings Park, NY as a result of deinstitutionalization. His second book, A Vanishing New York: Ruins Across the Empire State (Schiffer, 2022), which includes an essay by renowned architectural historian Thomas Mellins, was the result of a three-year survey of the last remaining abandoned sites representing the diverse history of New York State. Lazzaro draws upon his experiences from documentary filmmaking in order to create a realistic, visual, and enthralling dialogue of historic ruins.

Lazzaro is a member of The Firefly Gallery in Northport, NY and his photographic work has featured at numerous galleries, libraries, and historical societies throughout New York, as well as Untapped New York, Fstoppers, Long Island Herald, and The New York Post. Since his college years, Lazzaro’s documentary shorts have been publicly screened in film festivals in 12 different states.