Look Closer is a new photo series by OZY that encourages readers to see beyond a seemingly normal photo. Hover over the circles to explore the photo more deeply.
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By 2050, the amount of plastic in our oceans will outweigh the amount of fish.
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Plastic waste significantly harms whales and other marine life. Thailand, one of the countries that committed to reducing marine debris, has seen whales and sea turtles wash up dead on its shores in recent years with plastic waste filling their stomachs.
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Each year, at least 8 million tons of plastic go into our oceans. That’s about the same as emptying an entire garbage truck into the ocean every 60 seconds.
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The quilt was often the only opportunity survivors had to remember and honor the lives of their loved ones. Many who died of AIDS-related illnesses didn’t have funerals because of the social stigma early on. In fact, some funeral homes and cemeteries even refused to accept the bodies of the deceased.
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This might look like a giant tiled mosaic of a whale, but look closer and you’ll see that this piece of art was actually formed by plastic waste collected from the ocean. At Rudong Yangkou Harbor in Nantong, in China’s eastern Jiangsu province, the 223-foot-long whale was built for an event on June 10 to raise awareness about ocean conservation.
By 2050, the amount of plastic in our oceans will outweigh the amount of fish, according to the World Economic Forum, and the emerging crisis is earning more global attention. This month, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes four of the world’s top polluters — Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand — vowed to prevent and significantly reduce marine debris. But the declaration does not mention bans on single-use plastic or imports of foreign waste, despite demands from environmental groups.
Meanwhile, in Istanbul, Turkey, divers began bottom cleaning in the Bosporus waterway as part of a government program intended to collect 50,000 tons of waste, including 30,000 tons of plastic, from the ocean and beaches this summer.
“The environmental crisis needs an integrative perspective,” Turkey’s first lady, Emine Erdogan, said at an event for the Zero Waste Blue project. “Every life form that we erase from the world prepares our existence for the same end.”
Photograph by Getty
Look Closer: A Beached Whale, or a Trashy Statement?
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Look Closer is a new photo series by OZY that encourages readers to see beyond a seemingly normal photo. Hover over the circles to explore the photo more deeply.
LOOK
CLOSER
The idea for the quilt was hatched by activist Cleve Jones during the candlelight march in remembrance of the 1978 assassinations of San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone.
There were more than 44,000 individual panels in the quilt, weighing more than 10,000 pounds.
The first display of the quilt was in 1987, in Washington, D.C., and it was displayed again in 1996 to be visited by President Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton. It was shown again at the time of the XIX International AIDS Conference in 2012.
The quilt was often the only opportunity survivors had to remember and honor the lives of their loved ones. Many who died of AIDS-related illnesses didn’t have funerals because of the social stigma early on. In fact, some funeral homes and cemeteries even refused to accept the bodies of the deceased.
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This could be Washingtonians standing beside a giant board game on the National Mall. But look beyond a glance and you’ll see that the spectators are gathered around the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt on a crisp October day in 1996. The expansive, colorful AIDS Memorial Quilt — with more than 44,000 panels weighing over 10,000 pounds — was designed to be an eye-catching tool for a national prevention campaign that portrayed the humanity behind the statistics. The idea for the project was hatched in 1985 by activist Cleve Jones and other volunteers during a candlelight march in remembrance of the 1978 assassinations of San Francisco city supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone.
In more ways than one, 1996 was an inflection point. It was the first year since the epidemic started that saw the AIDS incidence rate and deaths decline. In the same year, Time magazine Man of the Year was granted to AIDS researcher Dr. David Ho. The doctor was a pioneer in the use of drug “cocktails,” or combinations, to fight the virus. At the time, 23 million people worldwide were estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS, and more than 6 million people had already died.
“When the history of this era is written, it is likely that the men and women who turned the tide on AIDS will be seen as true heroes of the age,” Time wrote about Dr. Ho. By 2017, more than two decades later, nearly 37 million people had HIV/AIDS worldwide, according to UNAIDS.
Today, remembrance and commitment to LGBTQ rights are no less pressing. Pride Month, which commemorates the Stonewall riots of 1969 in Manhattan, is simultaneously a time for resistance and celebration. Among those both within and outside the LGBTQ community, this month evokes an intentional remembrance of decades of hard-fought progress that LGBTQ activists have made in demanding equal rights in American society. At the same time, it’s a reminder that democracy requires the active participation of all — and that the battle for equality is neither over nor won.
Photograph by Shayna Brennan/AP
Look Closer: Rugs, Giant Board Game, or Something Far More Poignant?
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