The Murder City Project

The Murder City Project is an art-noir photography project reflecting the nondiscriminatory way violent crime impacts everyone, regardless of economic status, race, religion, nationality or age.

The project was conceived in 2006 after photographer/photojournalist Barry Kirsch heard about the City of Orlando’s astounding 368% increase in per capita murders that year. Shocked by this figure, Kirsch wanted to strengthen awareness about this alarming statistic with the goal of increasing community support for organizations that deal with the outfall of violent crime. (All proceeds of The Murder City Project will benefit CrimeLine of Central Florida.) Using the best weapon he knows – his camera – Kirsch conceived a photography project that captures staged murder scenes (not recreations of actual crimes) designed to provoke thoughtful conversation and action.

“What shocked me was not only the staggering murder statistic itself,” says Kirsch, “but how no one I talked to seemed to know or even care about it. There was this distance and disconnect around it. People watch every night with rapt attention as murder is glamorized, sexualized and commercialized on TV, but then are utterly blasé about it when murder is happening for real in their very own backyard. The irony of that led me to do this project.”

 The Murder City Project is a series of 24 large-scale images representing the 24 hours in a day. Each image is a murder scene photographed in the six counties that make up Central Florida. Shot in black and white, each photo includes a gold watch hidden somewhere in the scene indicating the time of the crime. The photographs are titled by each hour of the fictional day.

 “The project is a bit of a Trojan Horse,” says Kirsch. “People will make their way through the images thinking they are seeing one thing, but the final image will flip that perspective on its head. The message of this series is not what it first seems. People will definitely leave the exhibit talking, hopefully more aware of the toll violent crime takes on individual lives and on the larger community.”

Jerry Uelsmann taking in the Murder City Project, (photo by: Evlampiya Vizerskaya).