Brazilian artist Vik Muniz makes photographs that encourage a closer look. Muniz uses unusual materials to recreate recognizable imagery: well-known artworks, pop culture icons, or mass media pictures. His works are often assemblages made from countless small objects or elements that come together to form a larger picture. Muniz frequently chooses materials connected to the subject he is depicting, such as diamonds forming a likeness of Marilyn Monroe.

The 2010 Oscar-nominated documentary Waste Land captured Muniz’s travels to one of Brazil’s biggest landfills. The artist shed light on the lives of garbage collectors and worked with them to create art from trash. Muniz often chooses materials linked to oppression or exploitation, forcing us to consider the origins of these objects.