Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait

Although posted by John Nack and profiled by Bill Moyers in an interesting video last year, this is from Chris Jordan's Running the Numbers: An American Self-Portrait:

Cell Phones, 2007 (60x100") depicts 426,000 cell phones, equal to the number of cell phones retired in the US every day (end picture is actual size).




Chris Jordan: "Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 410,000 paper cups used every fifteen minutes. This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. The underlying desire is to emphasize the role of the individual in a society that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming."