Contemporary bricolage – Need

Paradoxes of the collection of papers and cardboards

In our cities’ landscapes, the street vendors are usually the only ones to have at their disposal hand carts or horse-drawn wagons to carry about their wares and infrastructure. At least this was the case until several countries in the region suffered an economic crisis which caused others to use the hand cart. Although the existence of cardboard collectors (scavengers) can not be solely blamed on the crisis, it did provoke their exponential growth.

Series produced from 2002 to 2005 with photographic registers of the following cities:
Bogota, Colombia; Paranaibo, Surinam; Santiago, Chile; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Sao Paulo, Brazil; New York, USA; Quito, Ecuador; Barcelona, Spain; Medellin, Colombia.

Justo Pastor Mellado
2005