American artist criticizes consumerism with shocking photos
Garbage arising from consumerism, whether inside animals or in large landscapes, is the central theme of the work of artist and activist Chris Jordan
Chris Jordan is an American who abandoned his career as a corporate lawyer to dedicate himself fully to photography. Consumerism and the environment are themes that arise in the mind of any observer of Jordan's work. Garbage becomes art in your photographs, whether through assemblages of figures made from the different chromatic patterns of the waste, by capturing from different angles or through other creative ways of casting a new look at waste, mass culture and relationship of man with planet. See below a little about some of his works:
Midway: Message from the Gyre (2009 - currently)
At Midway Atoll, a remote archipelago located more than 2,200 kilometers from the nearest continent, the garbage we produce ended up in a peculiar place: inside the stomachs of thousands of dead albatrosses. Adult birds mistake the litter that floats on the surface for food, ingesting it and feeding the chicks with deadly amounts of plastic. After the birds die and decompose, the plastic remains intact inside (the opening photo of this article is also from the same work).
In 2012, based on the impact the author felt with the visit, he decided to start producing a film in the same location. With this project, he tries to raise awareness about the seriousness of the issue and the criticism of consumerism. Check out the trailer below:
Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait (2006 - currently)
In this work by Chris Jordan, images are formed from a variety of solid waste, which, gathered according to certain criteria, form detailed figures when photographed from a long distance. The photos always show the amount of a certain residue consumed over a period of time, with the aim of highlighting the proportions of consumerism in today's society. Millions of plastic bags, sheets of paper or bottle caps represent quantities consumed in just a few minutes or hours, demonstrating the unsustainability of human practices in general and seeking to provoke reflection and recognition of the need for change.
In the first photo, one has the impression that it is just a stylized drawing. However, the second photo reveals that all the shapes (which resemble pipes) are made with plastic cups. Below the photo, the following sayings are displayed: "It depicts one million plastic cups, the number used on commercial flights in the United States every six hours."
Intolerable Beauty: Portraits of American Mass Consumption (2003 - 2005)
Visiting ports and industrial yards, Chris Jordan came across true portraits of mass consumption in the United States. The photos show huge quantities of the most varied consumer goods in the modern world, summarizing with images the chaos of the consumer society. The author's objective is to make the observer of his work look back at himself and reflect on his own consumption practices and the consequences for the planet. In the first image, a stack of cell phones; on the second, cigarette butts.
To learn more about Jordan's work, visit his official website.
