Friday, April 26, 2013

Shit I Found On The Ground

As I’ve shared in a previous post how often we forget to look UP in order to capture some surprisingly unexpected photographs, I feel the same about looking DOWN. Especially if you live in a city because you can spot a potpourri of unusual things beneath your feet.

Over the past month, I took some photographs of stuff I found on the ground. And it was amusing to observe people watching me aim my camera at the sidewalk and street while snapping images of odd objects. I actually had several people stop and stare with a suspicious and paranoid look on their face while clutching their iPhones, like, “What the HELL is he doing and should I 911 the police because this guy looks mentally deranged.”

I felt like saying, “Look busybody, I’m a photographer for Newsweek on a special assignment to take photographs of shit I find on the ground. Now mind your own business and buzz off!”

And what I thought most interesting about taking these shots was my inquisitiveness about the backstory of how some of these objects got there.

So here you go, folks, photographs of things I found on the ground.

This is interesting. A banana peel sitting directly next to a piece of chewing gum. It looks like an ad for bubble gum - “Gum that tastes like a banana, only it’s BLUE.”

I wonder if whoever dropped this was on their way home from the produce store and when they got there, realized they were minus one red pepper for dinner.

Evidence of hair loss from a faulty hair weave.

I bet this sock belonged to a man who was in hurry to get away from a very angry husband who walked in on him and his wife doing the nasty; dropping one of his socks in the street while running away.

A fabric softener sheet and an oriental fan. I have NO idea what to make of these two objects, other than they belong to a Geisha girl who works in a laundromat.

SCARY! Reminds me of the Stephen King book, Bag Of Bones. Either that, or the remainder of a Kentucky Fried Chicken 1-Piece Happy Meal.

I discovered this cute, little bumblebee just sitting on the sidewalk in a park. It was deceased, but fully intact. How odd. I wondered how it got there. Did it suddenly have a heart attack in mid-flight, and then made a smooth crash landing? And I honestly felt sad because I love bumblebees.

And now for the final photo, one of which is literally shit I found on the ground. I dedicate this photo to my buddy Katherine at Shoot Me Now.

Warning: I hope you're not eating breakfast while viewing this. And if you are...STOP.

Isn’t this a lovely sight? And no, it's not a Tootsie Roll. Thank god I saw it before stepping in it.

*note: this is a scratch and sniff photo, so feel free to try it. But be sure to use hand sanitizer afterward.

Apparently the dog owner didn’t see this only a few feet away. Or they saw it and didn’t care.

I had no idea they even had things like this, a Mutt Mitt. How ingenious! From the illustration it looks like a kitchen mitt.

Oh well, like I said, at least I saw it before I stepped in it.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. And don’t forget to look DOWN.

X