Photographer and Writer Cat Gwynn is the Edge of Humanity Magazine contributor of this photo essay. From the project ‘HUNGRY: The Insatiable State of America’. To see Cat ’s body of work, click on any image.

What’s in your wallet?

Have it your way.

Taste it all.

Think about less and enjoy more.

Live Richly.

The future takes Visa.

But what kind of future will we have if we don’t take responsibility?

Bombarded with messages by society and the media priming us to look outside of ourselves to find happiness, telling us To Consume, that More is Better, we mindlessly buy into the calculated promotion of selling our cravings beyond our needs. As a result, we’ve evolved into a ravenous nation obsessed with idealized perfection, aching to consume to fill our emptiness, stuffing ourselves to bind our insecurities, and ultimately living beyond our means in search for meaning.

But what is truly meaningful?

Every single one of us has wants and desires, and we all face feelings that we are not good enough, that we must change and improve. So we strive to lose weight, gain approval, exert control, request redemption… Then, tyrannized by an overload of choices and exhausted by misconceived “shoulds”, we conveniently settle for a numbing state of conformity. Bewildered and dissatisfied, we run from our responsibilities, medicate our fears, depend on someone else for the answers, and hope and pray that something bigger than ourselves will ultimately save us.

But who will save us?

Serving up ironic observations coupled with incisive societal insights, “HUNGRY: The Insatiable State of America,” speaks provocatively about the Human quest for attainment, love, acceptance and salvation, through consumption. Surprisingly, in the end, you might find what you hunger for not being what feeds you and that certainly is food for thought…