10/22/07 - Chris Jordan photography

What do these pictures represent?
These pictures represent the huge levels of consumption in the U.S. They show the problems that the country is having with overusing resources.
What do these images convey to us?
These images convey to us that Americans are not reusing enough and are not taking care of their environment. (They show the wasteful habits and culture of the U.S.)
How are these images supposed to make us feel?
These images are supposed to make us feel concern for the damage we have all contributed to and make us realize that we are too wasteful. I think that the photos are supposed to spark an interest in consuming less and being environmentally friendly, but do so by shocking us and showing the impact that each person has depending on how they use and dispose of products and resources.
Why do you think that the artist chose to create these photographs?
I think the artist created these photographs as a call to action for the people in America. I think he meant to show people their own wastefulness and remind, or inform, them of the impact that results in people's behavior as consumers.
How hard do you think that it was to create the photos?
I think that it would've been fairly difficult to create the photos. Some of the photos seem to be unaltered, but some appear to have been altered or created using computer technology to show specific facts.

Spend about 15 minutes writing about one picture, and describe the problem that you think that it represents.
The pictures of the huge piles of cell phones that have been discarded is very strong. The fact that 426,000 cell phones are discarded in the U.S. every day is really upsetting. These pictures and this specific fact really inspire me to reuse instead of buy new. These pictures demonstrate the gross consumption in the U.S. and the idea that people are being extremely wasteful. Specifically, these show that huge numbers of people get rid of their phones every day to replace them with newer or better ones. This shows America's materialistic quality as well.

Possible solutions for this problem:

• Recycle old cell phone parts
• Reuse phones (hand down phones)
  
• Repair phones when broken instead of buying new
• Make less new phones so that reuse is the easier option