A photographic remembrance · Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton Lace Company, 2019
What the Windows Remember
Photographs by John Alexiou
Scranton Lace Company was part of this city's working life for more than a century. Established in 1890, it became a major producer of Nottingham lace before closing in 2002. By the time I took these photographs in 2019, the factory was changing again. The name was still there, but broken windows, exposed rooms, and demolition told another part of the story.
What catches my eye is the repetition. Rows of glass, brick, and steel give the building a rhythm, even where pieces are missing. Through one window, there's another. Light still finds its way across the empty rooms, and vines work their way up the walls. There's a quiet beauty in those details, along with the sense that something is slipping away.
I took these photographs with my DJI Mavic 2 Pro, equipped with the Hasselblad L1D-20c camera, a 20-megapixel camera with a 1-inch CMOS sensor. These are my views of Scranton Lace in 2019, while parts of the old factory were still standing and the landscape was changing around them.
Fourteen photographs · From the factory windows to the changing landscape
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01 · The Name Still Stands The Scranton Lace Company name remains beneath a row of damaged factory windows. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Scranton Lace Company
02 · Two Floors of Light Rows of blue-green windows repeat across two floors of the red-brick factory. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Scranton Lace Company
03 · One Above the Other An open doorway and a tilted window break the pattern of two stacked window grids. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Scranton Lace Company
04 · A Window Within a Window An open pane frames another bank of windows across the empty factory. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Scranton Lace Company
05 · The Grid Holds Weathered blue-green glass fills a broad window, with light showing through along the bottom. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Scranton Lace Company
06 · Looking Straight Through A narrow opening in the dark window grid reveals another wall of glass beyond. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Scranton Lace Company
07 · An Opening in the Wall A wide gap in the factory windows opens onto an empty floor and distant daylight. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Scranton Lace Company
08 · What the Glass Reveals Broken panes and an open bay reveal the factory's diagonal concrete bracing. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Scranton Lace Company
09 · Broken Pieces Cracked and missing panes interrupt a tight grid of dark green glass. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Scranton Lace Company
10 · The Green Finds a Way Vines climb beside a large factory window, reaching toward the open space below it. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Scranton Lace Company
11 · Time on the Brick Bare vines trail down weathered brick between tall, dark arched windows. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Scranton Lace Company
12 · The Rooms Behind the Windows Rows of worn columns and exposed beams stretch across an opened factory interior. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Scranton Lace Company
13 · The Frame Remains A tall view into the factory reveals its exposed roof structure, columns and open floor bays. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Scranton Lace Company
14 · The Landscape Changes Again A yellow excavator stands among rubble, twisted metal and the remains of the factory. © John Alexiou · 2019 · Scranton Lace Company
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