trashy photos
July 11, 2014 6:19 PM Subscribe
7 Days of Garbage is a photo portrait series by Gregg Segal. His subjects are surrounded by the garbage they accumulate in a week. (More of his work: Gregg Segal. )
Great find! His work is really neat, and I'll pick State of the Union as one of (many) great series. That link goes to TIME's Lightbox sub-site, where there are more details on the photos than are on Gregg's site (and you can't deep-link to specific series on his site).
posted by filthy light thief at 6:50 PM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by filthy light thief at 6:50 PM on July 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
One of the best reasons to live in seattle. We recycle and compost everything! Our family of six doesn't even fill a small can...
Garbage sucks, as does dealing with it.
posted by Windopaene at 6:55 PM on July 11, 2014
Garbage sucks, as does dealing with it.
posted by Windopaene at 6:55 PM on July 11, 2014
These are fantastic. Reading Zero Waste Home really changed how I thought about the waste coming in (and going back out) of our home. It is so easy to be unconscious of the volume of waste we produce and there are so many easy things we can do each do to reduce (that book has so many suggestions). These photos poignantly illustrate the surrealness of domestic waste. One thing that really struck me that the book notes is that recycling isn't a zero waste process. It takes energy to recycle and it is not as if 100% of that material ends up as a new product. There is waste involved. I used to buy a lot of stuff in containers and think 'Well, I'll recycle it, so it's all good", but it really isn't so simple as that.
posted by mirabythelake at 7:53 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by mirabythelake at 7:53 PM on July 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
( kind of love the couple with the suited Dad and two kids. Like enough that I want it on my wall..... They're just giving great expressions. )
Aw, it's cute how the kid has two (very) mismatched shoes, and the dad has two mismatched socks.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:12 PM on July 11, 2014
Aw, it's cute how the kid has two (very) mismatched shoes, and the dad has two mismatched socks.
posted by Sys Rq at 8:12 PM on July 11, 2014
I am slightly concerned about why the three young women have a diaper packet but no diaper or babies. (Baby shoes. Never used.)
posted by gingerest at 1:43 AM on July 12, 2014
posted by gingerest at 1:43 AM on July 12, 2014
Great project. For the most part, we in the western world have become so efficient with hauling trash away, that most people have no concept of how much trash we produce. Out of sight, out of mind. And there is so much unnecessary packaging in our stores, it's infuriating.
Anyway, I didn't see this picture on the linked pages but it has a similar feel to the dressed up couple I thought.
posted by travelwithcats at 3:18 AM on July 12, 2014
Anyway, I didn't see this picture on the linked pages but it has a similar feel to the dressed up couple I thought.
posted by travelwithcats at 3:18 AM on July 12, 2014
This only looks like a lot of garbage because it's artfully spread out, but it seems barely a bag full in most photos.
Pretentious pseudo activism.
posted by MartinWisse at 7:16 AM on July 12, 2014
Pretentious pseudo activism.
posted by MartinWisse at 7:16 AM on July 12, 2014
Well, a bag for a week per person is plenty, if you think about it. But yes, I had the same thought about it being edited at first. I guess it is both, an artistic decision to photograph things that go together (plastic bags compliment the dress in the pic I linked to, for example), and also down to the fact that many people prefer to present a slightly improved version of themselves to the public. And maybe they decided not to collect food waste for a week? Most pictures had mainly paper and plastic trash, only a few had food waste and it stood out to me - like this family on the beach.
posted by travelwithcats at 8:03 AM on July 12, 2014
posted by travelwithcats at 8:03 AM on July 12, 2014
> One of the best reasons to live in seattle. We recycle and compost everything
He's documenting (with some editing) the amount of "waste" these people produce. I presume it includes stuff that will go to the recyclers, since they're in California.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:48 PM on July 13, 2014
He's documenting (with some editing) the amount of "waste" these people produce. I presume it includes stuff that will go to the recyclers, since they're in California.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:48 PM on July 13, 2014
> I had the same thought about it being edited at first
He says some people didn't bring all their garbage, either because they were embarrassed or because it was gross.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:50 PM on July 13, 2014
He says some people didn't bring all their garbage, either because they were embarrassed or because it was gross.
posted by The corpse in the library at 7:50 PM on July 13, 2014
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( kind of love the couple with the suited Dad and two kids. Like enough that I want it on my wall..... They're just giving great expressions. )
posted by The Whelk at 6:27 PM on July 11, 2014