The Art of Trash

Photo from a trip to Savannah, Georgia

As previously mentioned in an earlier blog, I love to take "trashy" photos. NO, not that kind for those whose minds have ventured elsewhere, these are simply "trash" on the streets. I am not sure why it intrigues me, but it does. We walk by it everyday, ignoring it or turning up our noses at it....but hey wait a minute, I like to think of it as art on the streets with no admission fee, no snobbery involved and best of all it doesn't hurt zee credit card. If you like it, all you have to do is pick it up!

Photo from a trip to Richmond, Virginia

I wish I could find my trash photos from our trip to Paris (the homeless baguette is one of my favorites) or from our trip to New Orleans, but alas those photos are buried somewhere in the maze of plastic containers in our apartment. Many of our early photos were taken with a Sony Macvia, when you could either put your pictures on a small memory card or a 3.5 inch floppy disk. We have tons of floppy disks, not exactly user friendly when you are looking for a particular photo. One of these days when we settle down I'll get my act together and create a photo album/scrap book. A nice post retirement project during a rainy spell down on the hill.

Photo from a trip to Savannah, Georgia

Not one of my more interesting photos, but seeing the "Red Bull can" brought back fond memories of my trip to Amsterdam with a group of buddies. The night started off with a nice meal at a Brazilian restaurant (a good steak and cold beer), followed by a few night clubs. Well, a few of us rolled in at 6am the next morning after the caffeine from the "Red Bull & Vodkas" kept us rolling along. What a crazy night that was, the last bar was so packed you could barely move. I learned to like this drink back in England, thought it was kind of strange to mix the two, but hey...tis not bad, you should try it sometime.

Photo from a trip to Richmond, Virginia

A simple cup on a wall, but add the guy in the background and wallah, you now have a semi-interesting photo. It is as if the cup is waiting to greet someone or simply out people watching. I feel as if it is no longer the white cylindrical inanimate object anymore, it is now someone whose cup is half full and ready to be a part of the vibe on the street. OK, so maybe that is stretching it a bit, but after reading Stephen King novels you would think anything is possible.

Photo from a trip to Richmond, Virginia

OK, what do you see? Trash, right? Well, yes....but I like to think that there's more to the story. For instance, hey it is the middle of the day..must have been nice to have a cold one during your stroll down the sidewalk. Smokes and gum....were they from the same person trying to hide their smoker's breath? And the toothpick, every time I see one of these I think of the person who tries to flip the toothpick over and over again in their mouth and the anticipation of all those around who are waiting for this poor guy to stab himself in the cheek. And what about the poor person who has to go around and clean up these trash bins, the things they must smell and see!