Paint Louis 2023

Paint Louis 2023 marked my first extended exploration of the project and the environment surrounding it along the St. Louis riverfront.

Rather than isolating murals or installations as individual objects, I photographed them as part of a larger urban environment shaped by weather, movement, industrial surfaces, and human presence. I was drawn not only to completed work, but also to unfinished walls, shifting light, temporary interactions, and the quieter moments that existed between periods of activity.

Many of the photographs from 2023 focus on atmosphere and transition: artists pausing between gestures, paint layered over older surfaces, changing weather moving across the floodwall, and the relationship between public art and the industrial architecture surrounding it. The temporary nature of the work created a landscape that changed constantly throughout the day.

The project became less about documenting individual murals and more about observing the evolving visual rhythm of the space itself. These photographs continue my broader interest in environments marked by traces of human activity, narrative ambiguity, and moments that remain intentionally unresolved.

A city is more than a place in space. It is a drama in time.
— Patrick Geddes