Life Guard Station 26, Ocean Park Santa Monica, Californiatrash collected for 20 min.
estimated trash collected today - 2.1
estimated trash collected to date - 163.2
I see plastic water bottles every time I am out there collecting trash. I wonder, "Should I take another picture of a water bottle? How boring." I think about these thoughts and laugh. This is exactly the point. There are a ton of water bottles littering the beach. If it wasn't disturbing, it would be boring. To make my point about how many I find, I think I will take a picture of every one that I find. Yes, it will be shot after shot of plastic water bottles with various brand labels, but maybe the quantity of the bottles I find will help make the statement that we need to clean them up. There are just too many.
Something else I was thinking about on my walk was that the trash can look beautiful out here. Especially the clear plastics, and the plastic bags when they are wet. I played with the composition of this shot to illustrate what I was thinking. But, I would rather look up and down the beach and see no trash at all.
This struck me as a little ironic. Let me use this space to highlight my local Surfrider Chapter.
This picture made me think about a person's relationship to the sea. It started for me this way. I was a little girl, learning to body surf in the Atlantic Ocean. Being in the ocean is a singular experience. You may be with friends, but you are alone in the three feet of water that separates you from them. You are also definitely alone when you look into an oncoming wave, or up at the horizon where the water disappears over the edge of the world. In those moments, a relationship between you and the water forms. It is one that either draws you in year after year, or lets you out without caring if you come back. It depends on the person. Maybe you are born with the desire to be in the water, and the love for it. Maybe you can be convinced to care, and come to like being in the water. In either case, it is a personal experience, and perhaps a relationship you can find comfort in for the rest of your life.
I see plastic water bottles every time I am out there collecting trash. I wonder, "Should I take another picture of a water bottle? How boring." I think about these thoughts and laugh. This is exactly the point. There are a ton of water bottles littering the beach. If it wasn't disturbing, it would be boring. To make my point about how many I find, I think I will take a picture of every one that I find. Yes, it will be shot after shot of plastic water bottles with various brand labels, but maybe the quantity of the bottles I find will help make the statement that we need to clean them up. There are just too many. 
Something else I was thinking about on my walk was that the trash can look beautiful out here. Especially the clear plastics, and the plastic bags when they are wet. I played with the composition of this shot to illustrate what I was thinking. But, I would rather look up and down the beach and see no trash at all.
This struck me as a little ironic. Let me use this space to highlight my local Surfrider Chapter. Come hear students from Santa Monica High School talk about the state of the water in the Bay based upon water quality samples they've been taking throughout the year. What: Teach & Test Year End Presentation and Celebration When: 7 pm, June 11, 2009 Where: Arbor, 102 Washington Boulevard, Venice CA 90292 Please RSVP to education@surfriderwlam.org. Food, drinks and killer raffle prizes! Surfrider Foundation West Los Angeles/Malibu Chapter |
This picture made me think about a person's relationship to the sea. It started for me this way. I was a little girl, learning to body surf in the Atlantic Ocean. Being in the ocean is a singular experience. You may be with friends, but you are alone in the three feet of water that separates you from them. You are also definitely alone when you look into an oncoming wave, or up at the horizon where the water disappears over the edge of the world. In those moments, a relationship between you and the water forms. It is one that either draws you in year after year, or lets you out without caring if you come back. It depends on the person. Maybe you are born with the desire to be in the water, and the love for it. Maybe you can be convinced to care, and come to like being in the water. In either case, it is a personal experience, and perhaps a relationship you can find comfort in for the rest of your life. 
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