My work begins with photography of scenes captured over a 30 day visit to Setúbal, but it does not end there.

The photographs serve as points of departure — moments of attention rather than fixed records. What interests me is how perception changes through return.
 

In Setúbal, I was drawn not to spectacle but to the cohesion of ordinary elements — the proximity of water and architecture, the rhythm of daily routines, the atmosphere of a working coastal town shaped by lived experience. I pass the statues often enough that they stop feeling like objects. Eventually, I begin to greet them.
 

Using AI, I extend my photographs beyond documentation while remaining anchored in lived experience. The images exist between memory and record, reflecting how places are felt as much as they are seen.
 

This work remains grounded in observation — in the quiet shift that occurs when looking becomes a form of inhabiting.

This project evolved into 2 books, sets of ceramic coasters, two videos, and a mural I am planning for a condo in town.

- David Ehrlich