Gregg Segal is a well-known photographer famous for bringing light to ugly and controversial subjects. Since a very young age, Segal has taken interest in photography, capturing mundane moments as works of art and documentation. At the age of 16, he attended the ‘Interlochen Arts Academy’ and soon after went on to do a BFA at the ‘California Institute of the Arts’. His passions and skill for storytelling through visual arts was helped by his interest in film and his ‘dramatic writing’ masters degree from ‘New York University’. Since then Segal has used the photographic medium to explore culture: our beliefs, our values, and our histories. As well as identity and the roles we play: super-heroes, CEO’s, inventors, gamblers, factory workers, and those just making up their identity as they go. His work has been recognised by huge organisations such as ‘American Photography’, ‘PDN’, ‘Investigative Reporters and Editors’ and ‘The New York Press Club’. Whilst his portraiture and photo essays have been featured in major magazines like ‘Time’, ‘Newsweek’, ‘The Independent’, and ‘National Geographic Adventure’. The reason I have chosen him for inspiration on how to portray environmental issues is down to his beautifully executed series he has named ‘7 Days of Garbage’.
The amount of rubbish that gets thrown away on a daily basis usually goes unnoticed. However, in this project aptly named ‘7 Days of Garbage’, Gregg Segal shows bizarrely artistic photos of families and individuals laying in a 7 days-worth pool of their own rubbish, escalating the inconvenient truth about one of the deepest environmental issues of today. As his work is very diverse Segal tries to avoid categorization, creating his own blend of editorial, fine art and documentary photography. All of these subjects, brave enough to show to the world their trash in the most vulnerable of ways, were Segal’s neighbours, friends, and other acquaintances. “Subjects are photographed surrounded by their trash in a setting that is part nest, part archaeological record,” he explains. “We’ve made our bed and in it we lie”. Below is a quote from Segal explaining the results that this project has had on himself and his subjects…
“By asking us to look at ourselves, I’ve found that many are considering the issue more deeply. Many have said the process of saving their garbage and laying in it reconciled them to a need for change. Others feel powerless. It isn’t their fault that the products they buy are disposable and come with excessive packaging. Our economic model and its necessity for growth fuels the waste epidemic – and makes conservation seem untenable.”
Here I have presented two of my favourite images from the ‘7 Days of Garbage’ series to compare and evaluate. By looking at these two pieces together you can really start to understand the growing problem of consumerism in younger generations. Both of these images depict a straight forward full body portrait image of a person lying on top of a week’s worth of their own rubbish. The meaning behind these creations is quite well explained by the photographer in a powerful statement; “We’ve made our bed and in it we lie”. This explains his intentions that, using his own blend of editorial, fine art and documentary photography, Segal has portrayed one of most problematic pollution issues to the environment in today’s society. I like the age diversity that he has included in this project as it is a really powerful statement that no-one is safe from this problem and everyone unintentionally contributes. I also love the compositions and structure of these images as the strong and obvious symbolism (created by strategically placed rubbish) emphasises the dramatic impact we are having on the world around us. These staged photographs are, in my opinion, essential for documenting our society’s problems today.
* Specified Task – Key Image Evaluation: 
Lastly is my favourite image from this collection depicting a typical 1st world family of four, surrounded by a weeks worth of their house-hold rubbish. I love the overhead perspective of this image as it adds to the staged photography style and overall dramatic tone. This way we are able to view the whole scene from a ‘new perspective’ and really clearly see the layout of the family and their waste. Because of the cloths and ethnicity of these people we can assume it is based currently in the western world. This emphasises this growing problem as a critical issue in first world countries that’s happening right now and will only get worse. The photographer names this family in order from left to right as Alfie, Kirsten, Miles, and Elly. By informing us of each of their names he has really made the project personal and allowed us to relate and connect to the subjects on deeper level. The meaning behind these images is very obviously a statement towards pollution and what we leave behind. Gregg Segal describes his goals and aspiration for the project; “by personalising the problem of waste – by starting with myself and working outwards from there, I’ve found that some are taking small steps to mitigate the crisis. Reflecting on the pictures I’ve made, I see 7 Days of Garbage as instant archaeology, a record not only of our waste but of our values – values that may be evolving a little”. This quote tells us that the meaning of these images is to inform the public of this common travesty as well as to inspire change. The many discarded food wrappers and massive amounts of waste paper symbolise how we can unintentionally, and without regard, waste these every day objects because of consumerism. Overall I love the fine art nature of this image as it still portrays a very clear meaning whilst balancing on the line between staged and documentary photography. The real scale of the rubbish against the size of the family really puts this problem into perspective. Without this use of staged photography, these issues would never come to light and be encouraged to change.
