There is something noble about setting out for a simple mission and returning with only photos and stories. In December we had experienced the “little Dubai rain” that turned into flooding in some areas, and just a little after that flood, we decided to take a trip to Sharjah scrap yards – some of us looking for parts, others looking for photography inspiration. The parts stayed there where we saw them. We came back with wet shoes, full of mud, and my Ricoh full of strange, glorious images.

The yard looked like a map of other people’s decisions. Cars lay in odd positions, their histories scattered in loose bolts and missing windows. You could only imagine what kind of sad stories happened to them before.

You learn quick truths in places like that. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure is not a slogan. It is a negotiating principle, a hypothesis tested every time you ask them if they have something available, it is in some heap – if not this one, then the next. The man who will never fit his old bumper back together sees the ednless opportunities in every bumper piece. Same way, where an artist sees color, a mechanic sees possibility.

Ricoh makes it easy to shoot in such places where everyone is concerned, hoping you are not there to document something that would lend them a fine. Photos are honest, minimalistic but chaotic, shot with Ricoh GR IIIx.

If you ever find yourself in a scrapyard, bring good shoes and worse expectations. Look for the poetry between the rust parts. And if you do not leave with parts, leave with pictures and a story you can tell people who think treasure must fit in a box.

The photos are proof that sometimes the best finds are the ones you did not plan to find.

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