i. A Background on the Work

A dozen years ago when Rockstar released Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V), on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360,  it was imagined knowingly as a defining media object for a generation. Yet at the time, few would have believed that the wait for its next ordinal successor was a decade away. With over 225 million units sold, it can be said that hundreds of millions of people have experienced, seen and heard of GTA V’s Los Santos — the game’s largest and most densely urban space.¹ A space which has been stably divided into areas that underpin the logic, feel and artistry of this constructed digital city. 

However, it is a misnomer to describe GTA V’s world itself as static or uneventful. Rockstar operates a second live-service experience mode in the same world: GTA Online. This gamemode, now available as a standalone title (from 2022), is described by Rockstar as being in an “ever-changing world”.² While not constructively fluid in a strict sense, distributed changes to the game happen biannually in patches called “Title Updates”. These are important as they irreversibly change buildings, sightlines, events and procedural experiences.

The question I then came to ask was, in this final year, what does place and transformation look like in the City of Los Santos? 

ii. The Collection of the Work

3 Days in the City of Los Santos (3 Days in Los Santos) represents the first Snapmatic photo journal with a complete coverage of each and every area in the City of Los Santos through GTA Online PC Enhanced’s first full year of Title Updates. It is also at the time of publication the only known titled art series to episodically and sequentially present all the areas of the city’s jurisdiction. 

*As they are uploaded, the buttons will be filled in.

The following alphabetical list of areas will direct you to the Snapmatic collection containing images of that area  → 

iii. Instruments of the Work

With any large structured work, it is important that there is a degree of instrument transparency. I have prepared three important backstage instruments that help explain my project’s operational logic, situate it historically and explain what areas are in GTA V. 

Instrument 1: Explaining Areas of GTA V a Disambiguation of Place → 

Instrument 2: Temporal Scope, Capture and Display Methodology → 

Instrument 3: Review of Related Practice in Snapmatic and GTA V Art → 

1. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (2026) Q3 2026 Earnings Conference Call: Investor Presentation, February. Available at: https://www.take2games.com/ir/quarterly-earnings (Accessed: 4 March 2026).

2. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (2026) Q3 2026 Earnings Conference Call: Investor Presentation, February. Available at: https://www.take2games.com/ir/quarterly-earnings (Accessed: 4 March 2026).