In May of 2001, while in Naples, Italy, I was walking through the remains of an open air flea market that had closed down a couple of hours earlier. I looked down and noticed a small white place card with the number 12 hand-written in black marker.  It caused me to wonder what kind of interesting items booth number 12 must have contained. I also noticed that the white card rested on the gravel textured pavement next to an iron manhole cover. The composition was very appealing, as was my curiosity about the history of the white card.  So I took a shot of that card with my digital camera.

That shot started a nine year (so far) photo essay on the flotsam and jetsam of everyday life that can be found under foot and exploring what kind of photographic and archeological interest they may have for the perceptive viewer.  Objects representing the life of the inhabitants survive the street sweepers at least long enough for me to discover them. Over time I noticed that certain objects kept reappearing - buttons, twisted wire, gold metal foil, all manner of plastic parts and rusted metal are only a few examples. There are also the unusual, but seemingly apropos objects found - a paper yarmulke from the streets of Prague or a section of a broken tape measurer near Taksim Square in Istanbul.

When I find an object of interest, I compose the shot, without disturbing the "Find", to include surrounding objects, shadows and other shapes, the goal being to capture a shot that will stand on its own as an abstract composition. I then place the object in a plastic zip bag and catalogue it with notes in a small notepad. Finally, GPS readings are taken for exact location as per an archeological dig.  In brick-and-mortar exhibitions, the digital photographic image, accompanied by a satellite image map of the find location, accompany the display of the actual find.