Earth Week: Gregg Segal: 7 Days of Garbage

Earth Week: Gregg Segal: 7 Days of Garbage by Michael O. SnyderApril 22, 2025

1_Segal_7 Days of Garbage_Alfie, Kristen, Miles and Elly Siggins_0232

©Gregg Segal, Alfie, Kirsten, Miles and Elly, 2014, from 7 Days of Garbage

Each year during Earth Week I curate a collection of photographic projects from artists who are working to make the often-invisible nature of the global climate and the ecological crisis more visible using conceptual, lens-based art techniques. The arts – and the visual arts in particular – have a unique capacity to confront audiences with uncomfortable truths, provoke meaningful discussion, foster empathy, and inspire individuals to take action on today’s most pressing issues.

Today, we’re looking at Gregg Segal ‘s project, 7 Days of Garbage.

These bodies of work are linked by this thematic lens: making the often-invisible nature of the global climate and the ecological crisis more visible using conceptual, lens-based art techniques.

©Gregg Segal, Lya, Whitney and Kathrin, 2014, from 7 Days of Garbage

7 Days of Garbage

Ever since I was a kid, I’ve wondered about garbage – where does it go and what happens when we run out of places to put it? With 7 Days of Garbage, I call attention to the crisis of waste and consumption by personalizing it. I asked family, friends, neighbors and other acquaintances to save their trash and recyclables for a week and then lie down and be photographed in it. I included my family because I wanted my 8-year-old son to understand that we’re contributing to the problem, too. I asked people to include their recyclables for several reasons: 1) packaging is excessive 2) recycling plastic has steep environmental costs 3) much of what is designated recyclable doesn’t make it to the recycling plant; about 8 million tons finds its way into our oceans every year.

I created the settings for the pictures, in my own yard in Altadena, California: water, forest, beach and snow. My aim is to illustrate how pervasive garbage is; no natural environment is untouched. By personalizing the problem of waste – by starting with myself and working outwards from there, I’ve found that some are considering the issue more deeply. Many have said the process of saving their garbage and then laying in it reconciled them to a need for change. Some are taking small steps to mitigate the crisis. Reflecting on the pictures I’ve made so far, I see 7 Days of Garbage as instant archeology, a record not only of our waste but of our values – values that may be evolving a little.

©Gregg Segal, Tammy and Trevor, 2014, from 7 Days of Garbage

Gregg Segal studied photography and film at California Institute of the Arts (BFA) dramatic writing at New York University (MFA) and education at The University of Southern California (MA). Segal approaches his work with the sensibility of a sociologist – using the medium to explore culture – our identity, memory, behavior, roles, beliefs, and values. His photography utilizes stark contrast and juxtaposition to engage viewers and provoke reflection. He draws on his background in writing and film to make pictures that are single frame dramas with a sense of something that has or is about to happen.

Segal’s photography has been recognized by American Photography, Communication Arts, PDN, Investigative Reporters and Editors, The New York Press Club, the Society of Publication Designers, Lens Culture, and the Magnum Photography Awards. Segal’s portraiture and photo essays have been featured in Time, GEO, Smithsonian, The Independent, Le Monde, Fortune, National Geographic, and Wired, among others.

Instagram: @greggsegal