Slideshow: The Beautiful Obsolescence of Discarded TVs
Every January at CES, in Las
Photographer Tom Starkweather is interested in the utter antithesis of what happens at CES. He recently published Screen Saver, a hand-bound book featuring oddly compelling photographs of televisions discarded in the streets and yards of New York City. Devices that would have once been the literal center of attention now lie abandoned, with the images on their screens formed only by the reflections of their surroundings. (Starkweather has also chronicled the fading presence of the pay phone.) Spectrum senior editor Stephen Cass spoke to him about his fascination for the public fate of yesterday’s technologies.
Stephen Cass: What provoked you to create Screen Saver?
Tom Starkweather: I started noticing in 2015 that there were a lot more of these TVs being left out on the street, or in the garbage area of buildings. I thought it was just because of people upgrading their televisions. But I did a little more research, and I found out that the state made a law that you can’t dispose of televisions with the normal waste; they have to either be taken to arecycling center or it’s on the manufacturer to take them back. Of course, some of these television companies no longer exist, and from a building manager perspective they keep them together and then [dispose of them all at once]. But I’ve seen some of them hang out for six months. I saw one yesterday that’s been there for a year!
