Photographer Julia-Carolin Zeng is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this photo essay. From the project ‘Street Art in Chicago’. To see Julia-Carolin’s body of work, click on any photograph.

All the pictures in this series were taken in October 2024 during a street art tour with Off Beat Street Art Tours in the quarter of Bucktown in Chicago. It became apparent during the tour that the murals are well-respected in Chicago as there was very little tagging and most of them were in great shape.

The first mural they saw was by Hebru Brantley and is a tribute to his childhood. It shows kids that are running whilst wearing helmets that makes it seem like a scene from an action movie.

Around the corner from there is an alley where every single garage door has been used as a canvas that shows graffiti writing and the portrait of a famous musician such as Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon or David Bowie. Some of them even show some memorable lyrics or words like “Respect”, “Peace, love and happiness”. This project is part of the series #PaintLoveAcrossAmerica where an artist couple travelled around the States to paint murals that spread love and kindness in times of uncertainty.

A lot of street art seen during the tour was painted on so-called “permission walls”, walls meant to be painted on, mostly by artists still learning their craft.

One of the most memorable pieces is part of the greetings series and welcomes everybody travelling on the subway from the airport into the city. Similar art works by the same artists can be found in several cities across the US.

Julia-Carolin Zeng was born and raised in Germany. After completing her studies in linguistics and cultural anthropology she moved to London where she discovered street photography. She is now a digital nomad and travelling for most of the year. When she visits a city, she always takes a street art tour and explores the artistic side of the place with the camera in hand. 

“I think that street art tells a very specific story in any place around the world. It shines a different light on a city that goes beyond the polished aspects that are mostly made for tourists. This ranges from representations of the city itself to how art is regarded in politics and administration to the topics artists choose to display. But most of all, street art is by definition ephemeral, and it therefore makes a city worth visiting again and again.”

All images and text © Julia-Carolin Zeng