Fun Fact: People devoted to picking up litter frequently document their adventures with photos posted on their volunteer organization’s or personal social media channels. For those of you who are new to this branch of not-quite-nature photography and would like to start building a portfolio that one day could be the subject of a Museum of Fine Arts exhibition, here are the major categories of shutterbug expertise you’ll need to master.
The Basic Bag Photo: One or two open trash bags of litter photographed from above, so the viewer can get a good sense of what you’ve collected. This genre is equivalent to a painter’s still-life depiction of a bowl of fruit. It establishes your foundational competence and credibility. Boring but essential.
Litter as Art: This is when you take individual pieces of litter, rearrange them in an interesting pattern on the ground, and photograph the result. Imagine a necklace composed of plastic dental flossers or nip bottles. Better yet, how about a necklace that combines flossers and bottles?
Let your creative impulses lead you, and you’ll be following in the footsteps of Michelangelo, whose early works were fashioned from discarded sandal straps and empty cans of Mountain Dew.
Before-and-After Photos: These can be very empowering and are easy to execute. Simply take a wide-angle shot of a litter-strewn playground or liquor-store parking lot, then take another photo of the same place after you’ve cleaned it up. You’ll feel good about what you’ve accomplished, and other volunteers will regard you as a role model. It’s Ozempic transformation without the constipating side effects.
Weird or Gross Litter: This is one of the most demanding areas of litter photography. The challenge is to navigate the fine line between photographing something that people will find fascinating and taking a picture that simply makes them nauseous. A discarded moustache cup bearing the slogan “James Buchanan for President” is cool and may even be valuable; a half-eaten KFC chicken thigh glistening in the summer sun and covered by frenzied army ants is just disgusting. The only way to build your skill in this domain is by trial and error. In general, however, don’t take photos of things that are oozing.
Individual and Group Selfies: Photographs of smiling KMB volunteers holding their grabbers aloft as they traverse the neighborhood are great morale-boosters for the litter-gathering community.
Serendipitous Wildlife Photos: If you pick up litter near or in the woods, you might occasionally spot an owl, fox, deer, raccoon, or some other forest denizen. By all means, take a snapshot. But it’s important to be honest. In 1952, KMB volunteer Percival Guskin claimed that he photographed Sasquatch while collecting litter on a trail at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston. It turns out that the photo was of his kid brother Ned, who had wrapped himself in a shag carpet. Don’t bring shame to your family in a quest for social media fame. Always take the high road.
The Golden Age of Litter Photography is upon us. It’s time to charge up your smartphone and hit the streets!
Mike Morris is a retired professor of psychology from the University of New Haven who moved to Framingham, MA in 2022. His primary avocations are satirical writing and pursuing street litter with a vengeance. His humor blog, University Life, can be accessed at https://universitylife.michaeladrianmorris.com.
