A good friend and film producer, Marissa Wasseluk, while looking at a photo I shot of a piece of trash, commented, "❤️ [heart] how you can make garbage look good. "

I hadn't realized it at the time but I had a whole series of "trashy" photos from over the years. But after hearing my friend's compliment, I set out to continue, albeit more consciously, the series of garbage photos.

It is sort of the ultimate expression in creativity and photography to find the beauty in what otherwise is junk or considered ugly. I'd say the most common ways you see this express is in the street photography. People one would otherwise never see in a television commercial or magazine cover are portrayed in a beautiful way.

I always think it is the photographer who actually takes a picture not the camera. And, while I vehemently oppose littering and support many green initiatives, I believe that perhaps this trash left behind can give something back to the world in the form of creativity or art.

Walking home after a visit to my friend's restaurant, the 3rd Coast Café, here in Chicago, I noticed a lonely 7-11 cup blowing around in a parking garage. Bathed in fluorescent light, there was something that compelled me, like so many photos, to take a photo of the moment.

If you're walking by anything and your creative instincts say to you, "you should really take a photo of that," you'd be wise to ablidge. Some of my favorite photos were shot from this impulsive nature of creativity. Follow it and you'll never be lead astray.

Trash Gallery

Shot on iPhone 6s