Thursday, September 6, 2007

collections

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It must have been the contrast of the blue and the yellow that led me to take this picture of a garbage truck. Or maybe I had some vague idea of representing the undiscover'd country from whose bourn no piece of trash returns. In any event, the photo isn't entirely without visual interest. The cable bisects the dimly-viewed maw, then twists upward, as if jerked by an unseen hand. The rim of the truck's loader arcs downward, a rainbow stripped of its colors. But if you want to see lots of pictures of garbage trucks (none of which were taken by me) and to learn about the history and technology of refuse collection, you really need to take a look at this informative site. And don't miss this extensive compilation of garbage truck videos.

12 comments:

S. said...

Niobe, today you and I have perfect timing--the garbage truck is outside the window, not 20 feet from me as I type!

Christine said...

you always have such great pictures to share and this is a great one.

i have to check out those sites--my son loves garbage trucks.

thirtysomething said...

Trucks, trucks, more trucks. My son Max can't get enough of 'em! There for awhile, he had 12 small replicas of trash trucks. His favorites to watch are the ones that empty the dumpsters. He is fascinated when they reach out and grab the dumpster, lifting it high in the air before turning it over.

LIW (Lady In Waiting) said...

I think it is a safe assumption that that truck represents our dreams of what we wanted our life to be like...our wishes about easy fertility, safe pregnancies, beautiful children.....

Regardless, that is the prettiest visual rendition of a garbage truck I have ever seen.

Magpie said...

You know, the NYC Department of Sanitation has an artist-in-residence.

(http://www.feldmangallery.com/pages/artistsrffa/artuke01.html)

Perhaps you could volunteer to do so in your fair city.

meg said...

My first thought when I saw this was that you might be as big a fan as I am of paring down possessions and chucking stuff out!

Whether or not you are, I like that this caught your eye. And I can hardly believe that there is an artist in residence at a sanitation dept. (as Magpie mentioned above)--how cool is that? Going to check out that link now.

M said...

I really love the way you see the world - you SEE it in poetry. I wish I had half your artistic-ness.

Anonymous said...

Cool shot!

Julia said...

A friend's kid and his whole preschool were at one time fascinated by garbage trucks and wanted to grow up to be garbage men. Not kidding.

Doughnut said...

What I want to know is what they guy thought when you took that picture? I am pretty sure not many people take pictures of his garbage truck. Maybe he thought you were casing out his truck! :)

painted maypole said...

it's interesting to read your comments about this photo, because I know nothing about photography or what makes an interesting pictue. So I'm learning something!

niobe said...

I so wish I'd had my camera with me this morning. I was stuck behind a garbage truck (though not a pretty blue one) on the way in to work and I kept on thinking how I'd frame the shot.