Garbage in Photography

Doll (2013)

Prior to the early 20th century, garbage was not considered photographic art. In fact it was not considered to be art at all. Consequently, if it appeared in photographs, it was accidental or unavoidable such in pictures documenting poverty and social issues (e.g. sanitation strikes, health hazards).

A prominent 19th century photographer that included garbage in his photos while advocating for the poor was Jacob Riis (1849-1914) when he documented the lives of New York City’s poor. It was only out of necessity that garbage appeared in some of his photos since 19th century conditions in poor New York City neighborhoods were squalid to put it mildly.

Garbage (also referred to as “found objects” or objet trouvé) began to be appreciated as art in the early 20th century led by photographer Hawley C. White (b. 1847) who featured garbage in his Yellowstone “600” stereoview series, architect Antoni Gaudí (1852-1926) who used broken pottery to cover exterior surfaces on Barcelona’s Park Güell buildings (erected from 1900-1914), and Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) who utilized it in his 1912 work – Still Life with Chair Caning. Since then both the objet trouvé art and photographic movements have mirrored each other.

Hawley C. White’s 1903 stereoview featuring a black bear sifting through garbage at Yellowstone National Park, the first known photo (shown below) that deliberately included garbage for artistic value was the forerunner to today’s widespread acceptance and even appeal of garbage for its intrinsic artistic value.

l.-r.: Young Girl and Baby (Jacob Riis, ca. 1890) and Yellowstone Black Bear (Hawley C. White, 1903)

However, despite the growing use of garbage in art and photography, mainstream institutions and critics remained unenthused and even harshly opposed to its use during the first few decades in the 20th century. For instance, in 1917 when Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968) created his Fountain sculpture that consisted of a discarded porcelain urinal that was mounted on its back, it was rejected when submitted for an art exhibition. Today Fountain is considered a “foundational work” of art.1

It was not until the 1930s when the inclusion of garbage began to gain appeal. As it did, more works of art as well as photographic images featured litter and garbage. With regard to photos, garbage was captured in numerous natural, community, and social settings.

l.-r.: Peter the Chimpanzee (ACME News, June 18, 1935) and Antarctic Penguin (Seattle Times, February 10, 1957)

By the mid 1940s photographic images featuring garbage had become mainstream led by Frederick Sommer (1905-1999) whose works are displayed in various museums including the National Gallery of Art.

When creating these works starting in 1946, Mr. Sommer scoured neighborhoods for discarded garbage, collected items that caught his attention and assembled them to create photographic works of art. His photo – Valise d’Adam, a gelatin silver print featured in the National Gallery of Art is displayed below next to a 2014 photo by myself. Together, they illustrate the effectiveness of arranging found garbage to create photographic works resembling people, faces, and human emotions:

Valise d’Adam (Frederick Sommer, 1949) and Smile for the Camera! (2014)

Interestingly, the first photo taken from the lunar surface featured a garbage bag (containing empty food bags, human waste and other unwanted items) that had been discarded from the Apollo lander six minutes prior to Neil Armstrong’s historic first step on the moon on July 20, 1969.

In 1987, a photograph by Dennis Finley that depicted a garbage-filled landfill and flying seagulls was National Geographic’s Photo of the Day.

Today, photographs featuring garbage come in all genres – nature, abstracts, minimalism, to name three and are created to express humor, politics, religion, social issues as well as plain art. Nevertheless, few photographers exploit this niche even though such works can be found in museums, are popular in photographic exhibitions and are sold on stock photo sites.

In fact, garbage with its various colors, themes, and forms is perhaps the most abundant resource waiting to be captured and/or used. Consider that we also live in the “digital age” when images can be easily edited and manipulated; the possibilities are endless.

Garbage for a Cause and Shared Fear (2014)

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