Ralf Schmerberg

Colorful, chaotic, amusing, often decadent or disgusting (but always morbidly fascinating)--the remains of plundered buffets, banquet tables, and barbecues are on display in Dirty Dishes. And there is an entire world to discover in these photographs of leftovers from meals, gatherings, parties, and events taken by director and photographer Ralf Schmerberg during his extensive travels throughout the world. Oyster shells on silver platters in a town on the French Croisette, ketchup-spotted cardboard french-fry plates in Chemnitz, and rice bowls and chopsticks in a Bangkok street-side kitchen take on an unexpected aesthetic charm. The images can also be seen as an anthropological lecture where Schmerberg's modern vanity still lifes illustrate both the rich nuances of diverse eating cultures and the often thoughtless, wasteful ways in which food is treated in consumerist societies.