After a year long endeavor, I've finally finished my personal photographic project of "Trash Treasures." Trash collection in my neighborhood is every Tuesday morning. Some in the neighborhood place their trash out at the curb on Monday evenings - the efficient and organized neighbors - but most hurry about early Tuesday, trying to get the trash bins and recycle tubs out to the curb before the big trucks noisily announce their appearance.
As I walked the neighborhood on those early mornings, my dog Mickey weaving in and out of the trash cans and recycle bins scattered along the curbs and sidewalks like obstacles to be conquered, I noticed among the trash, treasures that were unceremoniously dumped for collection: toys, vacuums, frames, paintings, recyclables, seasonal decorations… you name it, they showed up on the curb, waiting their fate among all the rest of the refuse of the day.
My late father was a depression-era child. From a humble, Midwestern upbringing, he was resourceful in his care of things which no longer had a value to others. As he moved about his town, he would carefully collect discarded, broken “trash” and turn them into a treasure. Often, he would use that treasure at our home because we didn’t have the money to buy it new or he would sell it to raise some cash. It was the “waste not, want not,” philosophy.
And here I was, years later, seeing the same pattern: other people’s trash waiting to be someone’s treasure. As a photographer, I am always looking for a personal project to express my creativity. So I had an idea: I would walk my neighborhood each Tuesday for one year and photograph the treasures for a pictorial documentary of the by-product our consumer society. I decided I would only concentrate on the neighborhood where I lived and where I normally walked Mickey.
I further decided I would photograph the items in a different way, using the Through-the-Lens, method – digitally photographing through the viewfinder of an old Kodak camera. I built a cardboard box around the antique camera so that I could rest my digital Canon G11 in a way which I could see the viewfinder. One unique aspect of the viewfinder camera is that the view you see in the finder, is reversed, so the images appear backward. Also, the mold, dirt, scratches, etc., seen in the viewfinder of the antique camera, is also seen on the digital image, giving it a natural grunge look.
So each Tuesday morning, I’ve set out, looking for interesting “treasures” among the trash. It has been an interesting experience observing the refuse discarded. I’ve been tempted to carry some of it home, but that isn’t part of the project. In photographing the “treasures,” I don’t touch or arrange them, rather I let their appearance on the street speak for themselves. Early on in the project, I had to make a “mini” book to show what I was doing, since I experienced some hostility in the neighborhood. Now, I’m that guy with the funny camera; some have even told me that they were putting out something interesting on the next collection day, hoping to make the book!
I have presented the images herein as Diptychs - a mini story in two frames. During the course of the year, I’ve taken several hundred images and have edited them down to this collection. I have artistically edited each image.
According to Environmental Protection Agency, the average American produces 100 garbage cans full of garbage every year. Every three months we throw away enough aluminum to rebuild every plane in every airline in America. Each year we throw away the equivalent of 30 million trees in newspapers.
And some of the trash is a treasure.
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