The Blue Dumpster
June 6, 2023
Last month a new dumpster came to town—not a new new one but a previously unseen old dumpster. And it was BIG, able to show many examples of what a dumpster can do. Here’s what I saw.
1
2 (Detail of #1)
3
4
5
6
7 (Detail of #6)
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15 (Detail of #14)
16
17
Romancing Reality 
What a blast of blue for an early morning. The opening picture made me think it was an aerial view of an archipelago of Pacific islands. Your phrase “what a dumpster can do” attributes more agency to that object than most of us are used to imagining.
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June 7, 2023 at 4:55 AM
Thanks for your observation and close reading of my words, Steve.
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June 7, 2023 at 8:51 PM
Framed with finesse. Your close-up detail in no 2 and numbers 9, 10 and 11 are at the top of the pack for me.
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June 7, 2023 at 8:30 AM
Thank you, John. It’s interesting about the detail images. I only see that much detail after I’ve downloaded and looked at the photograph enlarged. While I’m taking the photograph, I don’t see that much. To an extent, that’s true of all my photographs. I grab and go on. That may make for more discovery at download.
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June 7, 2023 at 8:59 PM
Correction… 10, 11 and 12. (LOVE that white rectangle)
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June 7, 2023 at 8:32 AM
Thanks again, John.
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June 7, 2023 at 9:01 PM
Proof that prayers do get answered! I gotta love #17.
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June 7, 2023 at 9:13 AM
Thanks. Glad you gotta love #17. If it’s not too personal a question, Ken, may I ask what the prayer was?
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June 7, 2023 at 9:54 PM
Cracked paint, rust, fish bins, dumpsters; subjects you excel at, Linda. The comment about “prayers” was more or less metaphorical. I was hoping you would not abandon this subject matter you present so well.
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June 7, 2023 at 11:01 PM
You’ve given me the whole list! Thank you, Ken, for your continuing interest. Rest easy: I will not abandon this subject matter.
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June 8, 2023 at 11:11 AM
What a treasure trove!!
Your images are outstanding.
Hard to pick a favorite
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June 7, 2023 at 5:34 PM
Thank you, Ruta. It was an outstanding dumpster.
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June 7, 2023 at 9:55 PM
Wonderful set, Linda! I am averse to choosing favorites but the skinny whale in #5, the subtle minimalism in #11, and the rusty orb (or is it a super-spider?) in #17 move them all in that direction.
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June 7, 2023 at 10:31 PM
Thanks, Mic. I usually avoid presenting purely abstract surfaces as depictions of real-world objects, but I succumbed to the whale. I cropped that image to emphasize its whaleness. Glad you like him as well as the other two. I did not see the super-spider in #17, but was well aware of the minimalism of #11. I love doing minimalism whenever I can.
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June 8, 2023 at 11:18 AM
Always a pleasure to see an new dumpster arrive! Glad you found it, Linda!
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June 8, 2023 at 1:36 PM
Thanks, Joe. When I drove past the parking lot where I found it, it was gone. Oh, well; I probably got all I could from it. Will keep my eye out for more.
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June 8, 2023 at 9:39 PM
What a great visual treat this is! So many interesting compositions…ending with an explosive one. I can see how happy you must have been to study these surfaces – pock-marked, scratched, bubbled, cracked, blotched, peeled – so many expressive marks! I was just looking at a map of an island I went to last week and that’s what I saw in the first photo, a map of islands floating in a deep blue sea, a picture of a place one would want to visit.
The intensity of the blue is a little reminiscent of Yves Kline. I have many favorites – #4,5,7,9,11,12,14, and 17.
I love the progression of 11 to 12.
These could make a show all by themselves.
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June 8, 2023 at 1:57 PM
Thank you, Lynn. You named it: “so many expressive marks.” One could take an art lesson from dumpsters, huh? Had to look up Yves Kline. Right on again. Thank you for that art lesson. After finding all these images last month, I am again toying with the idea of creating a book of dumpster photos. Will I ever do it???
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June 8, 2023 at 9:50 PM