While travelling through Cuba at the end of 2016, I started noticing discarded items in the street that looked very different to those back home on the streets of England. I decided to see whether the trash of a given place can show a little piece of the character of the location in which it was found.

What surprised me is that, once I started looking at the items others wanted to get rid of, I became addicted to staring at the ground. Pavements became the Pompidou and Trash cans Tate Modern. Inanimate objects seemed to be able to tell a tale of humour, politics, culture, and joy or sadness.

Instagram: trashtopia

London, England


Passport Photo, 2017


Rail Ticket, 2017


Chocolate Box, 2017


Plastic Dog [Headless], 2017


Notepad, 2017


Pill Blister Pack, 2017


Nitrous Oxide Canister, 2017


Syringe, 2017


Nitrous Oxide Canisters, Balloons, Plastic Fork, Polystyrene Container, 2017


Vintage Family Portrait, 2017


Skateboard and Cardboard Box, 2017


Football, 2017


Banana, 2017


Ice Cream Cone, 2017


Heart-Shaped Balloon, 2018


Cuddly Monkey, 2018


Beverage, 2017


Paper Hat, 2017


Polystyrene Cup, 2017


Call Box Card, 2017


Butter Packet, 2017


Confectionery Packaging, 2017


Apple, 2017


Banana with Toothpick, 2017


Mattresses, 2017


Tie, 2017


Leather Glove and Cider Can, 2017


Tampon, 2017


Mattress, 2017



Sunglasses Lens, 2017


Silver Balloon, 2017


Oxford, England


Apple, 2019


Sheffield, England


Plastic Fork, 2017


Vienna, Austria


Blue and Yellow Balloon, 2017


Latex Glove, 2017


Ice Cream Cones, 2017


Banana Skin, 2018


Eggs, 2017


Bauble, 2017


Plaster Angel, 2017


Gynaecological Drawing, 2017


Poster, 2018


Fireworks, 2019


Fireworks 2, 2019


New Orleans, United States


Beads, 2015


Malt Liquor Bottle, 2015


Miami, United States


Two Plastic Cups, 2017


Sugar Container, 2017


Headphones, Cups and Bottles, 2017


Shoes, 2015


Trinidad, Cuba


Coconuts, 2017


Bukhara, Uzbekistan


Broken Tile, 2017


Samarkand, Uzbekistan


Paper Aeroplane, 2017


Havana, Cuba


Sweetcorn, 2016


Peanut Wrapper, 2016


Varadero, Cuba


Beer Can, 2017


Little Liuqiu Island, Taiwan


Water Cooler, 2018
© Michael Goldrei 2024