So, I think I started collecting found photos one day when I saw a disposable camera on the
ground in the Brighton Stop & Shop parking lot. It had been run over by a car. I pried out the
film and sent it to be developed. How exciting! What could it be!??! Nudie pics from some
dirty girlfriend-boyfriend couple? Maybe they'd broken up over it. Maybe they were
promotional snaps for an underground snuff flick only to be sold in black market video
stores! Documentation of a crime scene!? Maybe I could be responsible for blowing the lid
off of an unsolved crime! The possibilities were limitless! In the end, it wasn't as
exciting as all that - snapshots of an Asian family on vacation in Niagra Falls - but it
was the beginning of the collection.
One of my instructors at MassArt, Janna Longacre,
once said to our class that all artists should collect something. I think that was another
reason I started collecting this junk and looking back I think she was right. It's been fun and
it really has effected other stuff that I do. I mean, as far as "making" goes, I have a lot of knowledge of materials, processes and tools but I still prefer to use discarded wood and found nails in my sculpture. I like drawing on torn corrugated cardboard box pieces and scrap wood more than drawing in a sketchbook.
Since I found that first camera, I've had my eyes open when I walk around and it's amazing how much
stuff you find laying around. Personally, I think we live in such a throw-away society
that people don't think twice about throwing something on the ground - no matter how personal.
Or maybe I'm just making it personal when it really was just trash to the original owner.
In any case, I find a lot of it funny, some of it sad, sweet, stupid, or whatever. Different
people see them differently. I think there's a story in all of them and what makes them
interesting to me is that I'll never really know what the real story was.
Rob
email: found at rahji.com
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