Discarded - A Photographic Essay

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DISCARD: Definitions.(The Collins English Dictionary)

VERB (dɪsˈkɑːd Pronunciation for ).(transitive) to get rid of as useless or undesirable

NOUN (ˈdɪskɑːd Pronunciation for ) a person or thing that has been cast aside

As an artist Christopher John Ball has long been fascinated about what we discard, mislay or dispose of as being of no importance to us; turning his camera towards these 'unwanted' or 'lost' little souls as they present themselves.

Often these become poignant little messages that we simply ignore as we go about our daily lives. Items such as 'missing' posters or' memorials' point to a personal human tragedy that are important to others but not to us, so we dismiss, disregard or simply fail to see their value. The same could be said of the political posters warning us of some pernicious act of Government. Our senses filter out what isn't important to us.

What could at first glance appear ugly can, when viewed through a lens become a beautiful still life, a tragic sense of beauty to be found in the dirt. Alongside the beauty and tragedy there can be found much humour. It could be argued that these discarded items, people and messages shout out to us to take heed for if we ignore their warnings history will repeat itself and we will put ourselves in danger of sharing the same fate.

This photographic essay is part of a long term project that started in the 1980's and is intended to give voice to that which has been discarded in the hope of giving them a second chance to 'speak' to us.

New images will be added on a regular basis.

July 2024 Several books, featuring Christopher John Ball's photographs, are now available through Amazon or click on an image below to purchase via secure payments on lulu.com