Plastiglomerates: How Humanity Is Entering the Geological Record

Kolster is referring here to the Anthropocene, a term increasingly used by scientists to describe a possible new era distinguished by the permanent alteration of the planet due to human activities.

"I can imagine these plastiglomerates being exhumed millions of years from now by extraterrestrial archaeologists!" Other places where plastiglomerates can found include the beaches of Portugal, India, and the UK.

An acclaimed photographer, Kolster has visited Hawaiʻi a couple of times over the past decade to explore Kamilo beach and capture images of these hybrids. The resulting book features nearly 150 photographs and some 13,000 words of text by Kolster, plus an introduction by author and former Bowdoin faculty member Russ Rymer. Kolster also collected samples of plastiglomerates from Kamilo that he sent back to Maine to photograph in his studio upon his return.

Most of the photographs were made as stereos, where two images of the same subject, when placed side-by-side, can be viewed in 3D. Kolster hopes that seeing these objects with two eyes encourages viewers to know them better than if seen with only one. He hopes that others recognize them as profoundly complex and nuanced as "mongrels," or hybrids, of the human and natural realms.