Chris Jordan is all in on beauty. After photographing sea birds dying by the dozens from consuming bits of plastic, Chris had a revelation: It was time to refocus in his lens on the awesome beauty of the planet. Now, he searches out natural places that can inspire us to treasure and protect them from the devastating effects of pollution and climate change.
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In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TED Talks video and live speakers combine to spark in-depth discussion and connection in a community setting. These events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.
Chris is an internationally acclaimed photographer and filmmaker whose works are exhibited and published worldwide. His work walks the fine line between beauty and despair while exploring the dark undercurrents of our consumer culture’s focus on disposable goods and mass consumption. Chris’s first foray into the subject was the project Intolerable Beauty, which demonstrated the enormous amount of waste in various areas throughout Seattle. His next project, Running the Numbers, used innovative perspectives to illustrate the vast magnitude of our mass consumption.
Chris’s largest project to date is a series of photographs, Midway: Message from the Gyre, and the companion film, Albatross. The project was inspired by a stunning environmental tragedy that’s taking place on a tiny atoll in the North Pacific Ocean. He and his team photographed and filmed thousands of young albatrosses that lay dead on the ground, their stomachs filled with plastic, underscoring the destructive power of our culture of consumption, and our damaged relationship with the living world.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
