TEDxOilSpill Expedition
Yesterday, I tweeted and posted a Facebook status that I was going to the Gulf of Mexico to document what’s going on down there and to bring back images and stories to TEDxOilSpill. I’ve been ramping up for this for days, if not weeks, and you might have gotten the clue from my tweets and advocacy for the event. But, the time for being coy is done. Here’s the full scoop as it stands right now.
We have a team of three photographers and videographers—Kris Krüg, Pinar Özger, and myself—confirmed to go to New Orleans on Monday to spend a week documenting the oil spill and its effects from land, sea, and air. We’ll be coordinating with others that we know on the ground and there’s a few more people that will likely be involved.
Why are we going? First and foremost, we’re passionate as hell about trying to do something. Like you, we’ve watched the situation unfold and have been horrified and outraged by both the actions of the operators of the well as well as the response. We’ve been dismayed. We’ve been wondering what we can do with our own meager talents to help out. This is our answer.
How are we paying for it? We’re working on getting funding lined up and we’re confident enough that things will work out that we’re going ahead and going forward, but there’s still a lot of risk in play for us as the various pieces come together. If you’d like to help directly underwrite this effort in some way, please let me know.
What can we do in a week that others in the Gulf aren’t already doing? Fair question. Sure, some media has gotten out. But, by and large, the media has run into continued problems getting access. We’re convinced—whether it’s because of restrictions or other reasons best left to tin foil hat discussions—that things are greatly underreported. While a small team probably can’t tip the balance, we’re committed to expanding the coverage by as much as we can. Every little bit helps, right?
Finally, we’re going to the Gulf to be a witness. No crime this large against the environment, the economy of the Gulf states, the people who live there, and the life that inhabits the water, can have too many witnesses. We’re going to bring our first hand account to the TEDxOilSpill event and to you.
Of course, I’ll be blogging and posting photos and other bits and bobs as we go. Stay tuned. More to come…
