You may wonder why I often take pictures of the trash. In this post, I will provide the answer.
For me, garbage is a stinky symbol of people’s general standard of living. I believe that trash can tell a lot of things about the inhabitants of the area where the photo was taken. Moreover, I think that somehow trash can tell us a lot about modern civilization, and its condition. You may reply: “Ok, I agree with you. But, this answer is not enough for me why you make such images and why you publish them? I do not want to watch such shit.” In the beginning, I will refer to the second part of the statement: if you do not want to watch this kind of picture, better do not view my website. Simply.
Secondly, I take this kind of image because I want to become familiar with something that genuinely scares me.
Becoming homeless and looking for food in the garbage is one of the worst nightmares. I feel terrified when I think about it. That is why I take pictures of the trash. Thanks to that, I do not only analyze modern people’s way of living. Moreover, such images not only help me imagining how I can look like the daily life of inhabitants. Thanks to garbage’s pictures, I familiarize myself with something unknown, disturbing, and terrifying. That is how I fight against my fear. By taking photos, I try to subjugate this fear.
Garbage is dirty and stinking. Trash is causing anxiety and is a disgusting piece of reality that surrounds us. I try to learn how I can conquer my fear of becoming homeless.
By visual confrontation with garbage, I create somehow in my mind, and imagination some psychic airbag, or mental shock absorber. Thanks to that, I can get closer to the things which genuinely scare me, like trash. Simultaneously, it helps me to keep a safe distance from the object, and not to soak through (literally and figuratively) by the rotten stink of the garbage. Is that all mean that I plan to become homeless? No. I only want to get a little bit familiar with something which terrifies me.
I hope that you understand why I take photos of the trash. It is somehow a mental, visual, and imaginative confrontation with something unknown and terrifying to me. Art/photography is a tool that helps me to cope with my fears.
