While I was in Asia last week, I got a update note from my talented, activist photographer friend, Chris Jordan, with a link to the below, powerful, heartwrenching clip… He’s making progress on his feature documentary at midway.
NOTE: this content is emotive and graphic. It shows the last moments–literally the last breaths–of a dying albatross. If this might bother you, do not watch it. If, on the other hand, you have the ability to face what we’re doing to our planet, and you think you CAN be moved by this, please do watch it. And stay tuned to Chris and his powerful work–his Midway project–with more to come.
If you want to know more about why this bird is dying, I had him on chasejarvis LIVE earlier this year for an engaging, intimate show with the tagline “creative mojo, change your life, make a difference” that you can watch here. We discuss this body of work at length as well as his other project, Running the Numbers.
Below is statement about the Midway project and a short trailer for the film…
The MIDWAY media project is a powerful visual journey into the heart of an astonishingly symbolic environmental tragedy. On one of the remotest islands on our planet, tens of thousands of baby albatrosses lie dead on the ground, their bodies filled with plastic from the Pacific Garbage Patch. Returning to the island over several years, our team is witnessing the cycles of life and death of these birds as a multi-layered metaphor for our times. With photographer Chris Jordan as our guide, we walk through the fire of horror and grief, facing the immensity of this tragedy—and our own complicity—head on. And in this process, we find an unexpected route to a transformational experience of beauty, acceptance, and understanding.
Have a mindful weekend…
Beautifully filmed and paired with evocative music. I don’t really understand though, how the small white bird and the chick relate to the albatross. If it was an adult albatross with a baby, it would make a lot more sense. Maybe this is a trivial observation, but I’m thrown off by such a powerful image of the dying albatross paired up with some random, unidentified bird and it’s chick. The mismatch leaves me scratching my head.
In his interview, he talked about how he wanted to show that there’s also a lot of hope on Midway. While there’s so many birds dying from consuming plastic – there is also new life. With our help, maybe that new life can flourish.
Tough but our own fault!
Very nice, very sad!
If you want to see a powerful movie/documentary about the abuse of animals due to human activity, watch “Earthlings”. Its even free online at the website, depressing, but life changing..
I agree I have just watched it and although it was painful and extremely depressing to watch, everyone in this world should watch it. Maybe we will all think twice and make a difference, no matter what we think everyone on this planet is responsible for the extreme abuse you see in Earthlings.
Tough to swallow. Glad Chris is shedding light on Midway.