Plastic and the environment – not usually a good combination, but sometimes it can be a photographic opportunity. Like seeing the land through fog or rain, a plastic sheet between you and your subject creates interesting questions about figure and ground as different versions of reality layer on top of one another.
A few weeks ago I noticed a tarp on the ground behind the gardens at the Center for Urban Horticulture in Seattle. There was a lot of rain that week, and the tarp held thousands of raindrops. Trapped underneath or beaded up on the surface, they dotted it like a star-packed sky. The plastic flattened and obscured the grass beneath. With wrinkles and folds, bent over on itself or bunched up, the tarp was a subject, too.
Olympus EM1 with Olympus 60mm f2.8 macro lens, at f/4, ISO 250
Other versions: At Pike Place Market, heavy plastic tarps are hung between the flower stalls and the street. When flowers are pressed against them, the view on the street is of flowers fading into a whole other reality. In a winter field frost-covered tarps in heaps on the ground become found sculpture.
bluebrightly 
This is a very nice take on a hot topic! What really gets me, are all the dog owners that scoop up and use the dog bags when they take their dogs for a walk. Why on earth do they do this, when they drop the poobags in the nature when they feel unobserved?? Ha?
(Sorry, I had to get rid off it. Feel better now. :-))
Big hug from dog owner and -lover,
Dina x
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😉 Around here, people are pretty good about that. But there’s always someone who doesn’t pay attention, doesn’t care, or is too wrapped up in their thoughts to realize what they’re doing.
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Keen observation. An interesting selection of ‘found’ patterns nicely captured
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Thanks so much Louis. It turned out to be the most interesting thing I photographed that day, in my mind.
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This is a great series of shots Lynn, as it shows how photography can find something so unique and beautiful ~ even when, as you say, the plastics & the environment simply do not mix well. The angles of your shots and streaks of lighting is beautiful.
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It’s not a typical subject, but it was interesting – the sun actually came out a bit, allowing for those streaks of light. As you know, the sun coming out here in any time of year other than summer is noticed and remarked on. I love when the weather people say we can expect “sunbreaks.” I don’t think I ever heard that in new York.
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So true, I think the sunbreaks we get up here in the PNW are such a part of our culture ~ a word here that brings nothing but awe and happiness 🙂
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An interesting series Lynn. Another example of something that would just have passed me by and there you are, creating interesting photographs! 🙂
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Good pictures, Lynn. I know what you mean about plastic and the environment. And I love the phrase “different versions of reality “, that has a very strong resonance with me. A
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So well seen and amazingly captured, love the abstract results and nice to see something good came out of plastic 😉
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So many beautiful layers in your abstract reality!!
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