Photographs of Discards

Photog: nicholas LS whelan


Someone near where I live has a habit of opening packs of collectable cards, and immediately throwing them on the ground. I've noticed this for several years. It used to be only pokemon cards, but lately it seems to have shifted to sports cards. It's neat to see these, so I'm going to start collecting photos of them. I will be extremely annoyed if it suddenly stops happening now. I miss the pokémon and digimon cards, but clearly this person(s)' going strong with the sports cards.

December 2025 Update: Admittedly, this has proven to be a pretty shallow photographic subject. From now on I probably won't bother photographing these unless I spot something peculiar.

Cards on a parking lot cement barrier at night. Still more wet cards in grass. More wet cards in grass Wet cards in grass scattered baseball cards in a curb by a parking lot scattered basketball cards lying in a bed of twigs at the base of a fence scattered pokemon cards, face down, wet with fresh rain a scattered pack of baseball cards, the cardinals team shot is prominent. The stack is partially wedged under a fence Photograph of a stack of fresh baseball cards in a patch of dirt by a curb. Tops baseball cards strewn beside an open pack. Unusually, these have all been torn in half. These cards were scattered more, and I did stage this one a bit. Three photographs of basketball cards in the street. They've clearly been out for awhile, water damaged and walked on. A bad photograph of a torn open Tops baseball card box. The cards are strewn widely over a strip of grass. Photograph of a stack of fresh basketball cards on a sidewalk beside a brick wall. A plastic floss pick is in frame. Cards scattered between a fence and a tree trunk, with a black pipe between them. A blurry photograph of warped cards scattered among grass and dead leaves.

—Nick LS Whelan

April 7, 2025

Last updated December 29, 2025