Looking for a Lost Kite.

Back in January 2023 my uncle passed away very suddenly. He used to be a garbage man, and loved his job very much. A few weeks before he passed, he told me he found a kite in somebody’s garbage that he saved. It was in perfectly good condition, practically new in the package. When I was young he used to come over to our house and we would make tacos, and fly kites in the backyard. He taught my brother and I how to fly. He showed us how to get the kite up into the air, running back and forth up the hill, waiting for the perfect gust of wind. 

After he passed, my mom, brother, and I went over to his empty apartment to throw away garbage and fold some clothes and take a few things that we wanted to hold onto. I couldn’t find the kite. We looked in the closet, under the bed, around the apartment and even in his blue Lincoln parked out front. I couldn’t find the kite. This project is an effort to look for this lost kite.

All photos were taken at Taylor Montgomery LLC recycling and trash processing facility in Montgomery, New York using a Sony A7ii camera and a 50mm lens. This project is an homage to my uncle Dean Patsalos (1960-2023) to honor and remember his life.

Erica Enriquez, 2023