A photographic remembrance · Centralia, Pennsylvania
Centralia, 2019
Before the Color Disappeared
Photographs by John Alexiou
I took these photographs in 2019 with my first drone, a DJI Mavic 2 Pro equipped with a Hasselblad L1D-20c camera. At the time, I was still discovering what it meant to see a familiar landscape from the air. Centralia offered something I had never encountered before: a place where history, nature, destruction, and human expression had become inseparable.
From the ground, the graffiti surrounded you. From the air, it became something entirely different. The abandoned highway appeared as a brilliant river of color flowing between the trees. Individual words and images dissolved into patterns. The forest pressed inward while the painted pavement held the record of thousands of human gestures.
These images are my view of that moment: Centralia from above, in full color, just before the landscape changed again.
Eleven photographs · Follow the road, then look closer
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01 · Into the Forest: Visitors on the painted curve of Graffiti Highway, Centralia, Pennsylvania, 2019. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Centralia
02 · Walking the Canvas: Visitors follow the colorful abandoned roadway into the forest at Graffiti Highway, Centralia, Pennsylvania, 2019. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Centralia
03 · Between the Trees: Diagonal aerial view of twin painted lanes through autumn woodland at Graffiti Highway, Centralia, Pennsylvania, 2019. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Centralia
04 · A Trace Through the Landscape: A panoramic aerial view of the painted roadway and surrounding woodland in Centralia, Pennsylvania, 2019. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Centralia
05 · Layers of Memory: Painted pavement fills an overhead composition between autumn trees at Graffiti Highway, Centralia, Pennsylvania, 2019. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Centralia
06 · Thousands of Gestures: A close aerial study of layered words, drawings and color on Graffiti Highway, Centralia, Pennsylvania, 2019. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Centralia
07 · Painted Voices: An overhead field of layered lettering and colorful graffiti along the center lines of Graffiti Highway, Centralia, Pennsylvania, 2019. Reviewed presentation version. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Centralia
08 · Faces and Messages: A gold pharaoh mural, turquoise lettering and overlapping drawings on Graffiti Highway, Centralia, Pennsylvania, 2019. Reviewed presentation version. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Centralia
09 · A Familiar Face: A white dog mural surrounded by handwritten names and colorful painted marks on Graffiti Highway, Centralia, Pennsylvania, 2019. Reviewed presentation version. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Centralia
10 · The Painted Bend: Graffiti Highway curves beside a green forest canopy in Centralia, Pennsylvania, 2019. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Centralia
11 · The Forest Returns: An overgrown median divides graffiti-covered lanes in Centralia, Pennsylvania, 2019. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Centralia
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