Mario Ramirez on capturing images of discarded objects in New York.

“On the cusp of the East Village, standing there, like a monument, for everyone to see. Objects are like people, with wrinkles, accessories, and dysfunctions. Disconnected and off the hook, but to the man there, its keeper, it seemed plugged in and of great importance.”

“An old table. Left behind, broken, and discarded. However, upon further observation, it’s not really broken, but modified to fit a pottery wheel. Good idea, but is studio space in Lower Manhattan that expensive?”

“Someone had either a good time or a hard time trying to get this wooden drawer out to the garbage.”

“No comment because there are no words really to describe this. It just is.”

“What was once considered ‘Modern’ is now left on the street. What would the designer of this chair, Marcel Breuer, say to that? Maybe he should ask Andy Warhol.”

“After a storm, just left there on a warm Sunday morning.”

“Sometimes one has to wonder at the stories behind such things. Sometimes it’s better not to know.”

“There is life and death in everything. Even in non organic objects such as the bicycles one can see around the East Village. They start new at the neighborhood bike shop – ready for sale, then they are used, and due to a lack of space perhaps in many East Village apartments, or long walk-ups, they are tied up on posts, very similar to how horses must’ve been a century ago. Then sometimes they ‘die’ and are left to the elements, forgotten, rusted, and twisted on Second Avenue. Maybe bicycles are similar to people in that respect.”

Mario Ramirez is community contributor to The Local East Village. He is an interior designer by trade and a photographer for fun. His photography can be seen here and here.