As a follow up to Blog Action Day and my earlier post about what I'm personally doing to change my world and impact others, I thought I'd share a very profound website.
I obviously love photography, and being an engineer, love numbers. One of my blog feeds tipped me off to the amazing work of Chris Jordan. His story, as told on PopPhoto is incredibly inspiring:
Jordan left his job as a corporate lawyer a few years ago with no prospects or connections in the photography world. He quickly blew through his savings shooting and printing large-format, and it wasn’t until he was $75,000 in debt and living on maxed-out credit cards that he got his first gallery show in 2005, which launched his career.
He had completed several projects, but the one that found me fascinated and awed was his exhibit called Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait. He illustrates the hyper-consumption of America by using everyday objects (kids building blocks or empty bottles or cell phones) to help the average person grasp the magnitude of stunning statistics.
It really hits home on the tragedy of over a million Americans are incarcerated, the wastefulness 60,000 plastic grocery bags used EVERY 5 sec, the senselessness of nearly 30,000 people killed by gun violence every year, and the pollution of more than 400,00 cell phones landing in a dumpster EVERY day.
It's awesome. Check it out- I guarantee you will be impressed. Check out his gallery of images from the devastation from Hurricane Katrina too- they are incredibly moving.
GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: The more people understand and grasp the profound magnitude of our consumption, the more likely they will be to make changes.
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