One man's trash is another man's treasure.

I received a text from a friend showing a photo of me that they had found at a local thrift store.

At first, I laughed—but that feeling didn’t last long. It quickly turned into something heavier. I felt bummed, confused… even a little hurt.

The photo was taken in 2023, and the photographer exhibited it that same year. I decided to reach out to him and ask about it. My message was a mix of questions and feelings—I didn’t wait for answers before expressing how it made me feel (something I’m still learning to be better about). Deep down, I knew he wouldn’t just toss his work—or a photo of me like that—so even asking made me feel like a jerk. We both ended up apologizing more than necessary during the conversation.

As it turns out, the person who hosted the exhibition was the one who donated his work. They gave him a very short window to pick it up, then chose to drop it off at a thrift store instead of returning it to him. That doesn’t sit right with me. It feels careless and disrespectful—not just to him as a photographer, but to the time, effort, and money he put into printing and framing his work.

I think what bothers me most is what it represents. The person who hosted the exhibition was just another Instagram “photographer”—you know the type. The kind who chases validation, who measures worth in likes, who builds a sense of identity around ‘community’ appearances rather than genuine respect for the craft. The kind who surrounds themselves with others doing the same, all competing to be seen as the local “artist” of the moment.

Because if there were real respect—real appreciation for photography and for fellow artists—this wouldn’t have happened. You don’t discard someone’s work like that. You don’t treat it as something disposable.

This is one of the (many) reasons why I stepped away from Instagram (again). It’s no longer a space for art + photography - it’s mostly ego. The focus is less on connecting and more on validating. Shit like this just made that feeling harder to ignore, but fate had a hand in it all along- bringing that photo back to me…

Amor Fati