What would a river clean-up be without discarded automotive tires? They seem as ubiquitous as the driftwood in the water. You get so used to seeing them that in effect…you don’t see them anymore.
That’s where having a camera can be of assistance…it breaks that circuit that prevents us from remembering that these objects should never find a home here.
Finding a floating circle in the water always grabs my attention. It’s no longer just a tire, but the pattern of perfection, the symbol of civilization.
How did we become so indifferent towards them? Isn’t the wheel the same great device it was when it was first invented? It was once a big deal…is it no less marvelous and worthy of being disposed of properly?
One of the nice things about being a parent of young children is that you can remember some of the wonder of the world through their experiences.
I guess that’s also what makes photography so effective a medium…it gives the viewer an opportunity in a split second, to experience vicariously, what the photographer saw.
I worry as a parent that we won’t leave this place in as good a shape as we found it. It’s become a vicious cycle that needs fixing.
I don’t know if “art” can be the tool to make the repair? But if we can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, which art can do, we might just recapture some of the lost wonder in the world.
Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog 
You talk about objects in such a lovely way. Wheels are indeed a marvelous thing. (I do like a circle right now as you know). And as you also hint at, photography is an incredible thing too. I think people are still subconciously fascinated by our ability to make an image. Images remain incredibly powerful, despite being ubiquitous. Somehow that isolation of a thing from it’s worldly reality and turning it into an image makes it seem so much more interesting than it ever was origionally – bizare really. Just watch a group of friends at an informal dinner – people will start pulling out their digital cameras and start photographing each other. The moment an image is created, everyone around the table wants to see it – despite the subject sitting right there in the flesh, the image is fascinating.
I think art can achieve those things you want it too. To communicate that wonder, and also to change the way people see and react to their world. I am sure anyone who has read this post certainly wont ‘not see’ the next discarded tyre they come accros.
I have seen many tires lying abandoned in the rivers I live beside. I have taken the next step, from thinking about them and bemoaning their presence, to actually removing them from their resting place and sending them off to a local recycling plant.
I commend you for bringing this unsightly phenomenon to the attention of your visitors. Perhaps your images and your wisdom will prompt your visitors to action. I know, it takes a great leap of faith to rectify the wrongs committed by other less caring folks, but someone has to do it.
Ken
Thanks for your comment Ken. Tires are a persistent problem as are so many aspects of living in a petroleum-based economy.