Images of polar bears portray climate change as a distant challenge. Here's seven other ways to use photography to communicate the immediate risks more effectively.
Towering 450 feet above the California desert, the Ivanpah solar power facility is the largest of its kind. Mirrors are used to concentrate sunlight and create steam, which is then converted into electricity. (Photo by DENNIS SCHROEDER / NREL)
"In the 1980s, activists made a decision to associate climate change with the polar bear to provide a simple visual shorthand for the issue, but it’s also reinforced the impression that climate change is a distant problem that’s remote from most people’s day-to-day lives.
"We at Climate Visuals — the world’s only evidence-based and impact-focused climate photography resource — have taken the first steps towards helping people tell a better visual story about climate change by creating a library of images that are illustrative and effective. Based on discussion groups and thousands of online surveys, we compiled seven key principles to help organizations, individuals and photographers create powerful images that communicate the seriousness, scale, scope and humanity of the climate crisis."
"...Unsurprisingly, people’s levels of concern or skepticism about climate change determined how they reacted to the images we tested. But other interesting differences emerged as well. Images of geographically distant climate impacts produced much flatter emotional responses among those on the political right. Images depicting solutions to climate change generated mostly positive emotions for people across the political spectrum." (Emphasis mine - MA)