Eggleston Avenue and Third Street lie below a tangled web of bridges that demarcate the Ohio River and Downtown Cincinnati proper. A flaw of design that seems to be the target of remedy in coming years, to better connect the northern industry with the southern riverfront parks. This particular area will remain hopelessly labyrinthine. An acoustic assault greets pedestrians as they traverse beneath U.S. 50, Columbia Parkway, and Interstate 471, along with numerous exit ramps from these respective ever-active expressways.
The multi-layered bridges and the buildings underneath create an echoing din that reminds me of Blade Runner 2049. Built into that soundtrack are reverberating engine-revving synths that blend effectively into the movie as music. It wasn’t until I left the theater in 2017 and walked to my car in the parking garage that I realized it could have been recorded directly from life. Eggleston and Third transports you to this cyberpunk world that can only partially be captured by photography. Alas, I am not the first to make note of this part of town — one of the local denizens has already tagged a name on one of the bridges: Hades.
f/J
Images © Joshua Klein — please write for licensing