This 30-by-66-inch horizontal panorama documents Cleveland’s Public Square at night—the historic center of the city where the Terminal Tower and surrounding buildings create the urban core’s iconic skyline. The five-and-a-half-foot width captures the nocturnal atmosphere when artificial illumination transforms the familiar daytime cityscape.

Created in 1987, the work documents Public Square during the transition from industrial Cleveland to its uncertain post-industrial future. The square, established in 1796 at the city’s founding, had witnessed Cleveland’s growth from frontier settlement to industrial powerhouse, and now observed the manufacturing decline transforming the regional economy.

Night photography reveals the city differently than daylight documentation: artificial lighting creates drama, shadows conceal decay, and the reduced presence of people emphasizes architectural permanence. The photo collage technique multiplies these nocturnal effects, multiple exposures capturing varying light conditions that the assembled composition synthesizes.

The Terminal Tower, completed in 1930 as the tallest building outside New York City, dominates the nocturnal skyline as it does by day. The tower’s illumination at night made it a beacon visible across the Lake Erie region, its presence symbolizing Cleveland’s industrial prosperity during an era when that prosperity was collapsing.

The horizontal format captures Public Square’s extent and the buildings framing it, the nighttime view emphasizing the architectural envelope that defines Cleveland’s center. This panorama documents the city’s heart during transitional hours that match its transitional economic moment.