An Unexpected Awakening

Peaceful Uprising in Telluride

Peaceful Uprising in Telluride

When I was offered the chance to join Peaceful Uprising at the Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride, I approached it as a chance to relax and get out of the city.  And for the first two days, it was; we enjoyed beautiful scenery and the company of extraordinary friends and acquaintances.  I felt lucky to be there… a sweet sense of shallow contentment, that would soon be shaken from me.

The following morning, I felt surprisingly vulnerable and uneasy.  After attending a breakfast talk featuring the famous monkey-wrenchers Tim DeChristopher, Katie Lee, and Dave Foreman, something struck a chord with me.  In particular, Tim had described reaching a point in time where his personal future no longer mattered–where he let go of the assumption that he could have a “normal” life like our parents’ generation had.  I couldn’t help but think about how that would feel.  Career, children, life’s previous goals… all suddenly overshadowed by the need to stand up and do something.  I felt weakened.

Thankfully, during the next presentation, the lights were dimmed to the point that only those sitting next to me could see the tears streaming down my face.  The extremely talented Chris Jordan shared his experience in researching and photographing the deaths of the Albatross native to Midway Island.  These majestic birds are collecting cigarette lighters, small toys, bottle caps, and many other forms of plastic that we’ve peppered the ocean with, to feed to their young and, ultimately, kill them.  They are thousands of miles from human civilization, and yet we’ve still managed to seep into their ecosystem, in the most harmful way.

journeytomidway — October 30, 2009 — These photographs of albatross chicks were made in September 2009 on Midway Atoll, a tiny stretch of sand and coral near the middle of the North Pacific. The nesting babies are fed bellies-full of plastic by their parents, who soar out over the vast polluted ocean collecting what looks to them like food to bring back to their young. On this diet of human trash, every year tens of thousands of albatross chicks die on Midway from starvation, toxicity, and choking.

To document this phenomenon as faithfully as possible, not a single piece of plastic in any of these photographs was moved, placed, manipulated, arranged, or altered in any way. These images depict the actual stomach contents of baby birds in one of the world’s most remote marine sanctuaries, more than 2000 miles from the nearest continent.

~Chris Jordan
October 2009

http://www.chrisjordan.com/
http://www.midwayjourney.com/

Music by Christen Lien http://itsnotaviolin.com/

Chris spoke about his experience of horror and eventually complete hopelessness through the whole process, and his need to embrace the pain and grow from it.  At one point, he broke down to speechless tears, which contagiously silenced the auditorium.  Chris’ poignant vulnerability and naked heartbreak induced a sense of shame and desperation that had been lurking inside me for some time.  I was launched into what I can only refer to as a social coma: three hours spent in uncontrollable waves of tears, hope, fear, laughter and ultimate frustration.

Telluride MeadowLater that day, as I sat in an open meadow and took in the stunning natural beauty of the Colorado mountains, I felt a surprising sense of joy intermingling with my lingering feelings of fear and hopelessness. In this picturesque setting, I continued my introspective journey and thought about how Chris Jordan described his struggle to turn toward beauty and inspiration in his artwork, while at the same time embracing and fully feeling his pain and heartbreak. Eventually, through the loving words of some dear friends and fellow activists, I finally reached a state of empowerment and clarity.  And despite it’s turbulent arrival, a strong sense of joy lingers.  A joy that I hope will give me the strength to stand up and fight for the future that we’ve come so close to destroying.  I will never forget the experiences I had that weekend at Mountainfilm Festival, and will forever be grateful for those who shared them with me.