I would have never imagined that I could have fallen in love with pictures of garbage more so than after I watched the documentary behind these incredible pictures by Vik Muniz. The documentary, Waste Land, follows his journey back to his home country of Brazil to the landfill of Rio de Janeiro. The people who work picking through the garbage all come from hard situations in life that have led them to picking through the garbage for livelihood. Vik Muniz changed their perspective on life with just showing them their potential as they all worked on their own personal portraits and had them be sold around the world and placed in world class museums. This movie is so motivating, I was changed by watching it. It really made me think of really what is most important. After watching it, I just want to do something! I want to go out and help, maybe I can't make amazing pictures out of trash but it has made me contemplate on how exactly I can use my own talents to help others realize their own self worth. Think about all the good we could do if we could just reach out to those around us, not out of pity for what someone is, but rather out of hope for what they could become. Below I have attached the trailer. You can find the movie on Hulu or on Netflix if you have an account. So worth it.
I also love this documentary! Vik is such a cool artist and person! He’s so humble about his work, and genuinely wants to portray the stories of the workers. It was amazing to me the masterpieces that came out of the pieces of garbage and recyclable materials. I think there’s a metaphor that can be found in this documentary. At the end when Tiao is on television, he corrects the host in saying that they are not pickers of trash, but of recyclable material. That in itself makes us view their situation much differently. At least me personally, after hearing him say that made me realized that nobody is trash. Everyone needs a second chance, and who am I to scrutinize other people’s lives on my own terms? That is a really shallow way of thinking, and definitely a state of mind I need to change.
ReplyDelete