So what had happened was; I was at an art museum checking out the newest contemporary art installation and thought to myself, this is literal trash. They put “found objects” on the floor with some framing around it. litter off of the road side. “what we throw away” kind of vibe. I thought to myself, I could make trash more interesting than this! So… I went to work.
It started with trash cans. I started shooting trash cans that had an interesting visual appeal, I acquired some trash cans from a few sources, and started doing studio sessions with them. I have photos of a happy little trash can family with studio portraits, I have them out in the wild near road closed signs, and construction barriers, and large commercial dumpsters, like a family would have of things that they found meaningful to them. As this work progressed, I started shooting in bathrooms where they had interesting trash cans, and with that, I started to notice a pattern of bathroom designs. Once that little light bulb went off, I started to pivot more to toilets, and less from trash cans. Both are in the same vein of how we interact and value the things around us that primarily utilitarian in nature. But the toilets seemed to have a more visceral reaction from people who I would speak to about my little project. So I went where the smoke was. Now I have an alarming amount of photos of public toilets on my hard drive. As one could image, social media didn’t really “get it”, my follower counts were in the single to double digit range. Being frustrated by that, I pivoted down another path. . . I have an “archival quality” pigment based inkjet printer that I use to print small 4X6 prints of toilets on acid free paper. I sign and date the print, then “return it home” using various non destructive / non permanent mounting techniques to leave behind a little bit of interest for the person behind me. I intentionally mount them in such a way as they are easy to remove, in hopes someone takes it home with them. I imagine most of them find their way to the trash can, unironically, by means of the cleaning crews who happen upon them. Hopefully some of them find their way to individuals that get it and the photos provide some amount of whimsy to their day. If you have found one of my works, I would love to hear about your reaction. A few folks I know in real life, who know what I get up to have requested prints from me. I can report that I have several toilet photos hanging up in private galleries across the land. If you would be interested in supporting the arts, I am always available for patronage.
