Visualizing Climate Change
On 29 September, 2021, Climate Visuals and TED Countdown released 100 photographs that showcase climate solutions alongside the global impact of climate change as part of the ‘Visualizing Climate Change’ open call for photography.
I’m honoured to have one of my images included in the collection. It was selected from more than 5,500 submissions from photographers in more than 150 countries.
The selected image is from an area I spend a lot of time photographing: the mouth of the Zandvlei estuary at Muizenberg beach. Since estuaries are under increasing pressure from climate change, effective management is critical.
This image ties to my work documenting the Zandvlei estuary mouth (watch the short film I produced about the estuary Intersections) and my thoughts about how art can create a connection to place that’s key for understanding climate change (read my blog on this).
Caption: Cape Town's Muizenberg beach is a popular surf spot on the Zandvlei estuary, the only functioning estuary on the False Bay coast. The estuary has been negatively impacted by urban development. As part of its management approach, the City uses bulldozers to open the estuary mouth at certain periods, typically around the spring tides, to allow seawater in. In winter, opening the mouth also helps to stop flooding of houses adjacent to the waterbody. While this approach, along with other interventions, has led to improved ecological functioning, the estuary still experiences issues of poor water quality, sewage contamination, and pollution. Climate change threatens estuaries worldwide, making effective management essential. Photo credit: Brendon Bosworth / Climate Visuals Countdown.
Changing the visual narrative on climate change
I’ve long been impressed by the work Climate Visuals is doing with climate change imagery. The aim is to move from standard climate images of polar bears to images of real people and real solutions that are locally relevant.
As Climate Visuals explains on its website: “All too often, the climate change imagery the world sees is ineffective at driving change — it may be aesthetically pleasing and illustrative but not salient or emotionally impactful.”
Based on international social research in Europe and the US, the team at Climate Visuals uses seven core principles to inform effective visual communication around climate change.
Credit: Climate Visuals.
Images free to use
The open call asked photographers to apply the seven principles to the five TED countdown themes (energy, transport, materials, food, nature) with a focus on positive climate solutions.
You can see the final selection of 100 photos at the Climate Visuals library. There are some incredible shots. These are freely available to key groups communicating on climate, including the editorial media, educators, campaigners and non-for-profit groups. (To make use of the images you’ll need to register for free with the Climate Visuals library).
(You can also take a look at a Guardian photo essay, ‘Enduring and surviving the climate crisis - in photos’ featuring a selection of the top 100 images).
Featuring at COP26
The collection of 100 photos will be showcased at the TED Countdown Summit in Edinburgh, UK (October 12-15, 2021) and will feature at the UN climate conference (COP26) in Glasgow, UK (November 1-12, 2021).