The Def-fish-it

I hear a lot of numbers being thrown around about where U.S. money goes and where it is coming from. I decided to investigate and provide a visual representation of some number crunching. I wanted to show how far the U.S. has fallen into debt and who will be affected by any spending cuts.

The following is a photo illustration of U.S. spending in 2010.

From the bottom up:

Soil: 57% of the U.S. budget is mandatory spending (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid etc.).

Sand: 38% of the U.S. budget is discretionary spending (Homeland Security, Health, Education etc.).

Water: 5% of the U.S. budget was money earned on top of the 1.3 trillion dollar deficit.

Fish: Americans.

The United States is drowning in a debt of over 14.1 trillion dollars. Fifty-seven percent of the budget is mandatory spending (soil) which is untouchable money. Thirty-eight percent of the budget is discretionary spending (sand) which could be reduced if it was not borrowed money. As a result federal spending cuts are limited to the positive portions of the U.S. budget (water).

All information from the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

Lighting Diagram:

I positioned the fishbowl on a light table directly in front of the camera. I lit from underneath and had Alex Wood gobo. I placed a strip box at an angle to light the front so you could see the detail in the sand and soil. I shot at ISO 200 f/11 1/15.