A free photography exhibition featuring 274 portraits shot on the Santa Monica Pier is on view inside the landmark's Merry-Go-Round building through Sept. 30.

"Afterglow: Portraits by Sam Comen" displays photographs the artist made over three days in July, when he set up a simple outdoor portrait studio on the Pier and sat face-to-face with locals, travelers and international visitors. Alongside each sitting, Comen asked subjects what brought them to the Pier and how they see America. The exhibition frames those conversations against the country's 250th year.

"I chose the Santa Monica Pier because it's a place where so many different people and journeys come together," Comen said in the exhibition announcement. "Taken together, these portraits reveal an America that is incredibly diverse, deeply personal and always changing."

A special opening reception runs Thursday, Sept. 17, from 3:30 to 7 p.m. during the Pier's Locals' Night, the free community series presented by Pacific Park that opens its 2026-27 season with a classic car show, local DJs and bands, kids' activities and art on the Pier deck, according to the Santa Monica Daily Press.

Admission is free.

Comen has spent 20 years photographing human stories tied to American political and social issues. His work is held in the collections of the Library of Congress, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs' Art Bank. He has been exhibited twice at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.

Jim Harris, executive director and historian of the Santa Monica Pier Corporation, told the Santa Monica Daily Press that the show captures what makes the Pier special. Harris said the landmark is defined not just by its history but by the millions of people who bring their own stories and perspectives to it.

The exhibition is a collaboration between the Santa Monica Pier Corporation, a nonprofit, and Art of Recovery, a post-COVID initiative of the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division created to support community life through the arts, according to the Santa Monica Lookout.

The Merry-Go-Round building is open Mondays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The building is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Visitors are encouraged to arrive by Metro, bus, rideshare or bike.