One person's junk is another man's muse.
Adelo Souto, an artist who works as a construction worker, was inspired by the abandoned and often dismembered bikes he'd come across just while walking the city.
"They tend to look like abstract sculptures," Souto said. "Sometimes it’s just one piece, sometimes it's just the frame or one tire."
He carries his camera whenever he can and began snapping photos of the bicycles he finds — including some that are missing their wheels or are covered in rust — about five years ago when he first moved to the City from Miami.
In 2013, Souto began logging his discoveries in his blog, called Forgotten Rides.
"[The] bikes also trigger many unanswered questions, like what happened there?" Souto said.
"Did someone move and forget their bike? Or was part of the bike stolen and the owner couldn't be bothered to fix it? Or maybe it's something tragic like someone passed away," said Souto, who posts photos almost every day.
Souto, a resident of Bed-Stuy, said he walks three to four hours a week, mainly in North Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan, to document the deserted rides.
Noone has ever contacted him to claim one of the photographed bikes, but several residents have asked him if his job was to remove the forgotten bikes, calling them "eyesores," Souto said.
"I've definitely noticed that some of (the bikes) have been at the same location for several years," he said.
