This is Your Garbage, This is Your Waste

This series is made possible by the excess of food waste in Lower Manhattan.

This series is made possible by the excess of food waste in Lower Manhattan. Each image presents findings from a single evening spent searching through garbage bags on sidewalks. This project evokes the criticisms of 17th-century Dutch painters, such as Pieter Claesz and Rembrandt, who used decadent fruit and delicacies to depict the almost comical extravagance they were paid to capture. These images are a response to the evolution of consumer culture, its casual existence in systemic routines, and the neglect to address the resulting food crisis.

According to the New York Times, in this city alone, 14 million tons of waste are thrown out yearly and 1.2 million residents are food insecure.

If you are able, please consider participating in mutual aid via local organizations, community fridges, and otherwise giving money and/or food to those unhoused or asking.

NYC Community Fridge Map

Find Your Neighborhood Mutual Aid Org (or try looking on Google/Instagram/etc.)