Beauty (Part 2)

One might say about my “Beauty” post a few days ago that despite the fact that the leaf that I posted that day was dead, brown and dried-up it was still easy to make it look beautiful.

I am working on a second studio project at the moment that I call “Grand Street”. Grand Street is my subway stop in Brooklyn and after I get off the train I have to walk a couple of blocks on the same street to get to where I live. The longest time I have been fascinated by what I find on these few blocks on my way home.

I am talking about trash, stuff people don’t put into garbage cans but drop where they go. I started to collect some of those pieces and shot them on a white background.

How beautiful can trash be? But again removed from the street and separated by a white background from its surroundings I can see a lot of beauty in it.

What brings me to another question. Is the can in this image beautiful or am I capturing my view of its beauty on film while I am shooting? Is what ends up being the photograph the subjective view of the photographer?

That being true would mean that the same can would look completely different to anybody else in the world and that two people cannot shoot the same picture.

It would also conclude that beauty does not exist in the world but is projected onto it by us.

"Beauty (Part 2)" Williamsburg/Smashed Monster Energy Drink Can 11-26-08 at about 03:00 PM

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