Someones Rubbish — CJ FEATURES: Kiss it! New photo book by Abbie Trayler-Smith

I’ve been loving Sandy's photography for years, over on Instagram, and every now and then we chat about photos, creative stuff, and life, so when he asked me to write a response to the photos he‘s taken over 2020, the year that changed everything, it felt like a natural yes. I was nervous as I’m dyslexic, but whilst viewing his work the words seemed to flow. My best friend since I was two, checked it all over, she always seems to be there when I need her, big love to you Nel. Sandy’s photos took me on a journey to Austin, Texas, a place I have not been to, but I connected right away, so much was relatable to my lockdown experience. Thank you for asking me Sandy, it’s given me the writing bug!

Order the book Ain’t Bad

Title : Pretty Much

Text By: Chloe Juno

Details : Edition Size 300
9″ x 7″, 96 pages Hard Cover, Perfect Bound
ISBN: 978-1-944005-49-8
Published by: Aint–Bad Fall 2021

‘In his latest body of work, Sandy Carson turns his wry wit to cataloging the year 2020, an uncertain and unprecedented time where the world began navigating the ‘new normal. On the street or just around the corner, a timeless, heartfelt, and absurdist lens joins with Sandy’s hopeful approach to storytelling, inviting the observer to take a deep breath, buckle up and hold on just a bit longer. It’s a gentle reminder that someday, these days will be worth remembering. Pretty much’. Ain’t Bad

2020, PRETTY MUCH, Book Cover, Copyright Sandy Carson Order the book Ain’t Bad — 2020, PRETTY MUCH, Book Cover, Copyright Sandy Carson
Order the book Ain’t Bad

2020, PRETTY MUCH, Copyright Sandy Carson Order the book Ain’t Bad — 2020, PRETTY MUCH, Copyright Sandy Carson
Order the book Ain’t Bad

Walking around the streets thinking and observing, taking in the hugeness of the situation. I miss hugging friends and family; I hope I can soon. What shall I make for dinner? The shelves are empty. Have I got any toilet roll? Fixing my own broken dental filling. Empty streets, reminiscent of a film I haven’t even seen, but yet I am walking around the set. A new language: ‘Social distancing’, ‘the new normal’, ‘lockdown’, these are ‘unprecedented times’, ‘you’re on mute’. Chloe Juno

I started photographing discarded objects in 2015, I’m fascinated by the traces of the life that’s often found on them, the life they once lived, the marks, the patterns, the dirt, and fingerprints. I feel I can sense something when photographing let’s say an extremely old hoover, carpets, broken ovens, old televisions, sofas, old fridge freezers that have not been cleaned, the inside still mucky with old food stains, discarded worn-out shoes, half-eaten sandwiches, a blood-stained coat, debt letters, and the list goes on! I sense the owners they once belonged to and can imagine all the possible life stories.

I have started to realize I’ve always noticed the details of the wear and tear of life. My childhood home was a flat within a regency townhouse in 1980s Brighton. The only one in the street that hadn’t had its frontage restored, it was covered in peeling paint and really stood out against all the other regency cream-painted buildings. Inside was also worn and torn and whilst growing up, I was hyper-aware of the building’s general state of disrepair and signs of use by other tenants. It was very different from my school friend’s houses; I had a love-hate relationship with it. Looking back, it was a beautiful home. My mum did her best to make it so.

I spotted Oliver’s work whilst researching and it immediately resonated with me, the marks his grandmother had made on her lino, all the twists, and turns of her life lived within her kitchen.

Thank you, Oliver, for allowing me to feature your work. It’s one of the best things I have seen in a long time.

"Oma was the name Oliver Beer called his grandmother. She put the lino down in the 1960’s and over four decades her feet gradually wore through the decorative pattern. Over the years marks appeared in front of the oven, the sink, the front door, where she turned around in front of the fridge, where she sat at her table shuffling her feet. Like a drawing made over forty years, these worn patches describe half a lifetime of movement. The earliest work that Beer still exhibits, this object preempts his work with architectural space and transformed readymades." www.oliverbeer.co.uk

Oliver Beer Oma's Kitchen Floor, 2008 Linoleum kitchen floor worn over four decades 511 x 350 cm Collection of the artist. Image © Oliver Beer — Oliver Beer *Oma's Kitchen Floor*, 2008 Linoleum kitchen floor worn over four decades 511 x 350 cm Collection of the artist. Image © Oliver Beer