Photographing detritus on the street.

RTomens, 2021

 

The cop asks me "Are you all right, sir?"

"Yeah, just taking some photos."

I'd arrived at the transport police building where cops were sat in a van outside. The cop that asked me was heading for the van. If the cops in the van had been watching, which some of them probably were, they'd have seen a bloke aiming his tablet at the ground quite often as he walked along the street. Suspicious behaviour? Hardly.

I know people look at me funny when I'm taking photos. I can sense it, the question in their heads: 'What is he photographing?'  If I'd shown the cop the photos I'd taken he might have thought me...mad? But not suspect. 

I love the details in 'rubbish' on the streets, walls, lamp posts and phone boxes. They only become apparent when seen close-up through the lens. Here's one I took in December of last year.

RTomens, 2020

What was once carefully thought out design is rendered abstract by time and the elements. I'm thrilled if text is involved, even a few letters. That 'pie' emerges in the photo above makes me chuckle. I'm guessing it's 'piece' cut short. Detritus in the streets...I wonder if I dare suggest that it somehow symbolises our wasted society....decay, abandonment...perhaps that's going too far.