As photographic artist Chris
Jordan sees it, problems communicating environmental
issues to the public occur when
numbers are used, especially
large ones. According to Jordan, a more expressive way to
communicate large numbers is
to do so visually — the realm of
the artist.
questioning global warming is the highest in the
13 years Gallup has been polling public opinion
on this issue.
Photographic artist Chris Jordan believes
that problems communicating environmental
issues to the public occur when numbers are
used, especially large ones. That is because most
people have difficulty conceptualizing large numbers and relating the phenomena they describe
to their own personal lives. Thus, when we use
statistics to describe environmental issues, the
average person struggles to understand. According to Jordan, a more expressive way to communicate large numbers is to do so visually — the
realm of the artist.
42 September/October 2010 SOLAR TODA Y solartoday.org
on Closer inspection
Jordan’s approach to communicating large
numbers is illustrated by “Oil Barrels,” a 5-by-
5-foot (1.5-by-1.5-meter) photographic com-
position portraying the 28,000 barrels of oil
consumed in the United States every two min-
utes — equivalent to the flow of a medium-size
river. Proponents of renewable energy often cite
our nation’s heavy dependence on oil and the
penalty paid in environmental degradation, but
the scale of our oil consumption is difficult to
grasp. Jordan helps us come to terms with this
vast volume of oil by allowing us to actually see it
— all 28,000 barrels — in a single photographic
composition. (Each barrel is reduced to about
the size of a fingernail.)
the language of Change
It is not surprising that Jordan’s visual compositions are so effective. The adage, “A picture is worth
a thousand words,” rephrased for Jordan’s work,
becomes, “A good photocomposition is worth a ton
of statistics.” For many visual thinkers, in particular,
complex numerical concepts can be understood
intuitively when expressed through artwork.
In a 2008 TED Talk presentation (tinyurl.
com/qyyj6n), Jordan explained that what motivates his art is a fear that Americans aren’t feeling enough, that we’ve lost our sense of outrage
and grief. He said he thinks that’s because of the
CL
Watch the TED Talk, “Chris Jordan Pictures Some Shocking Stats”: tinyurl.com/qyyj6n.
