Midway: Message from the Gyre

Artist: Chris Jordan

Seattle photographer Chris Jordan's work is deeply engaged with the impact
of mass consumption on the environment and nature. In this series of
photographs, Jordan captured the immediate effects of plastic waste on the
albatross population of Midway Atoll, a remote territory of the United States. In
this photograph, Jordon has cut open the stomach of a dead albatross chick
to expose the plastic rubbish that it has eaten, fed accidentally by its parents
who have mistaken the trash, floating in the vastly polluted Pacific Ocean, for
food.

The body of the albatross is still recognizable as we can see its beak, eyes,
and feathers. But Jordan has laid out the pieces of toxic plastic in colorful
juxtaposition to the mute colors of the baby bird offering a glimpse of the
harmful effects of ignorance and negligence on innocence. The albatross
carcass also exposes how insidious the climate crisis truly is, as he states,
"Like the albatross, we first-world humans find ourselves lacking the ability to
discern anymore what is nourishing from what is toxic to our lives and our
spirits."

Albatross chick carcass, plastic