As soon as we landed in Washington DC and took the metro into town, we felt something was off. Something was missing. It was very different from what we had imagined. We expected a lively city full of high-rise buildings and crowds of people. Since we had only seen Chicago and New York before, we assumed the capital would feel the same way, busy, dense and full of life.

But as we arrived this idea quickly fell apart. The streets felt strangely empty, only a handful of people wandered around, running errands, rushing to meetings. The wide streets and sidewalks enhanced this feeling even more. The space felt like an entity, a silent character in the city.

That unsettling presence is what sparked this project: I wanted to explore how in Washington DC, space doesn’t just surround you, but it weighs on you, making you feel small, disconnected, even lost.

That feeling grew stronger when I saw a lonely tree stuck between slabs of concrete. Behind it, a mural of the sky covered the side of the building. The perfect but fake clouds made the real, struggling tree look even smaller and more out of place. It felt almost ironic, like someone had to paint the sky behind the tree to remind us what was missing.

This project is my way of making sense of that feeling, the quiet weight of space, the subtle isolation, the unnoticed presence of nature trying to hold on. It is an exploration, a record of how a city made me stop, look, and feel something I didn’t expect.

Washington DC, USA, November 2023