Published on Show Me Mizzou April 24, 2025
Earlier this year, photojournalist Patrick T. Fallon captured the aftermath of California’s relentless wildfires with unflinching clarity, from the skeletal remains of homes in Altadena and Pacific Palisades to the broader devastation visible from the sky. For more than a decade, Fallon, BJ ’11, has documented the state’s most destructive blazes, including the Thomas, Woolsey and Camp Fires. This aerial image, taken on Jan. 8, 2025, shows thick smoke from the Eaton and Palisades Fires blanketing the Los Angeles skyline. It’s a stark visual testament to the region’s vulnerability.
Fallon has spent his career distilling catastrophe into singular human moments, whether documenting the wreckage of Joplin’s tornado, the political turmoil of a U.S. election or the quiet grief of a man standing in the ashes of his family home. His award-winning photography has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Getty’s global archives, ensuring that these fleeting, harrowing scenes are not lost to time.
To read more articles like this, become a Mizzou Alumni Association member and receive MIZZOU magazine in your mailbox. Click here to join.
