Road to Nowhere
In 2019, Johnson was commissioned to photograph the last days of the Alaska Way Viaduct, an iconic elevated highway along the waterfront edge of Seattle, as it was unwoven from the fabric of the city. During the weeks after the Viaduct had closed to traffic but before demolition began, he made multiple walks along the entire lower level of the highway, photographing back at the city. This vista, a cinematic slice of Seattle framed top and bottom by the Brutalist structure of the Viaduct, had been an iconic perspective for anyone traveling along the highway as it made its way, at times within feet, passed the city. These photographs offer a visual reminder of that shared and unique perspective, now a part of the city's collective history.
Johnson has published a limited edition book of this work following an innovative double-sided accordion design. The book is available here.
ROAD TO NOWHERE
$65.00
Road to Nowhere is an artist book commemorating the last days and demolition of the Alaska Way Viaduct, the iconic elevated highway that ran along the waterfront edge of Seattle from 1953-2019. The book makes creative use of a double-sided accordion design to present two final chapters of the Viaduct’s legacy as it was unwoven from the built fabric of the city.
The unbound structure of the book allows for two separate sides to be experienced. As the viewer moves through one side’s page spreads, they also move through the city’s layered skyline all framed by the ever-present Viaduct. Turn the book over however, and the viewer moves through a sequence of darker monochromatic pictures, gritty, abstract, and frenetic, of the demolition of the Viaduct. Pull the book’s page spreads out and these two sequences become long panoramic vistas.
Ultimately, Road to Nowhere is a visual reminder of these vistas and the structure, now part of the city's collective history.
30 pages / 8.5x10.5 inches
Full Color, Hardcover Self-published, Fall 2021
Printed & Bound by Girlie Press, Seattle WA.
Limited Edition of 175
For his most recent project, Seattle photographer Eirik Johnson recorded the last days of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. In the fall of 2018, the city’s Office of Arts and Culture commissioned Johnson to document the demolition of the iconic structure, which was torn down over the course of 8 months in 2019. He discusses his approach to his work and contemplates what comes next for the waterfront.
Produced, shot, edited by Brad Curran for Crosscut.
https://crosscut.com/author/brad-curran