For several years, the blue sky has occupied a central place in my creative practice — not as backdrop or metaphor in the conventional sense, but as subject. There is something in the particular quality of open sky that resists easy interpretation: it is simultaneously universal and indifferent, present in every photograph ever taken outdoors, yet carrying no inherent meaning of its own. It is, in the most literal sense, context-dependent. It means nothing alone.
That obsession brought me, eventually, to a body of material I did not expect to find myself inside: the publicly available photographic evidence from the Jeffrey Epstein federal investigation. Thousands of images, entered into court record, accessible to anyone willing to look. I looked. I went through them by hand.
From that recognition came this work. Using custom software, I isolated every pixel of blue sky across the archive and redacted everything else — people, places, interiors, evidence — leaving only the sky and the document identification numbers stamped into each original file. The result is a series of images that are simultaneously empty and full: drained of their evidentiary content, yet retaining the precise coordinates of where that content once lived.
The imprecision of the redaction is intentional, or rather — it is honest. The algorithm is imperfect, and I chose not to correct it. Its errors mirror those of the institutions this work is in conversation with: the non-prosecution agreements, the sealed depositions, the years of delay, the names that remain protected by wealth and access. Sloppy redaction as institutional critique.
The document IDs are real. They are part of the federal record. They are, in the end, the only thing this work insists on keeping whole.
I want to be unambiguous about something: this project does not seek to aestheticize suffering or to reduce the gravity of what happened to the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein and his network. The crimes documented in these files are among the most serious violations imaginable, and the people who endured them have fought — often alone, often against enormous institutional resistance — simply to be believed and to see some measure of justice. I hold that reality with care.
What this work asks is whether we, as a society, have allowed ourselves to look away — and whether art can serve as a form of sustained attention when institutions fail to provide it. The Epstein case did not end with his death. It did not end with the conviction of Ghislaine Maxwell. The full record remains partially sealed. Named individuals remain unindicted. Survivors remain without the full accounting they were promised.
The sky in these images is not a symbol of hope. It is a witness. It was there. It remains.
Daniel Koeth, 2026
These organizations provide direct support to survivors of trafficking and abuse. If this work moved you, please consider donating or volunteering.
Operates the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline. Works to disrupt the networks that enable trafficking and provides direct support to survivors navigating complex systems.
Donate →Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. The nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization. Operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline and carries out programs to prevent sexual violence.
Donate →A survivor-led organization that centers the voices and leadership of human trafficking survivors in policy, advocacy, and systems change. They fight for justice from within.
Visit & Support →Leads the U.S. movement to end sexual exploitation of children. Focuses on policy change, survivor engagement, and holding institutions and governments accountable.
Donate →The Epstein files remain partially sealed. Many names remain protected. Your elected representatives have the power to change that — but only if they hear from constituents.
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