Abandoned - Bikes from the Streets of New York City
In New York City, bikes are often beaten up and dismembered while they’re locked up on a public sidewalk. Over time, vandals and the elements slowly degrade the bikes until one day, often many years later, the NYC Sanitation Department carries the bike off to its final destination, a disposal site. To document these bikes, Mireles first removed the bike from its locked location by cutting the lock with a commercial grade grinder. He then took it back to his studio where he photographed it using elaborate studio lighting. Finally, he returned the bike to its original location and secured it with a new lock. Since many of these bikes were often remnants of many decades past, he chose not to destroy the character of the city’s landscape by removing these bikes before their time on the street was organically concluded. On this page, you’ll find a uniquely told story of life in NYC through the once two-wheeled detritus of its streets.
Prints available in custom sizes. Limited edition, signed prints. Solvent ink on cellulose paper.
