This 37-by-20-inch vertical panorama documents Death Row at Ohio Penitentiary—the cell block where condemned prisoners awaited execution during the prison’s 150-year history. The vertical format emphasizes the claustrophobic height of cells designed for those facing death, the composition rising where horizontal extent was deliberately limited.

Created in 1996, the work documents Death Row during the prison’s demolition period. Ohio Penitentiary executed 315 people between 1885 and 1963, initially by hanging and later by electrocution in a chair inmates nicknamed “Old Sparky.” The condemned spent their final months or years in the cells Hayashi documented.

The vertical format creates tower-like proportions that intensify the cell block’s oppressive character. Death Row’s design maximized surveillance while minimizing inmate contact—precautions against escape or suicide that would deprive the state of its intended victim. The cells’ narrow dimensions appear even more confining in vertical composition.

The “Version 1” designation suggests Hayashi created multiple studies of Death Row, exploring different perspectives on this space of ultimate state punishment. The photo collage technique fragments the cell block while preserving its institutional geometry, the assembled composition documenting architecture designed to contain those awaiting execution.

Ohio Penitentiary’s demolition erased this physical evidence of capital punishment. The cells where 315 people spent their final days no longer exist, the site now occupied by entertainment facilities that offer no reference to the grim history they replaced. This panorama preserves documentation of punishment infrastructure society prefers to forget.