The power of photographs to engage the public with multifaceted, complex issues of global scope such as war, hunger, and terrorism has been widely discussed and researched by media and social studies. However, all too often images accompanying "environmental" stories in the news are chosen according to worn out stereotypes of nature, whereby the images serves merely as an illustrative "hook" for the text, conveying no story of its own. On the other extreme, images associated with the climate change stories veer towards the gripping yet distant sublime, often leaving audiences deeply concerned yet hardly moved towards action or even attitude change. In this brief, summarizing the most relevant studies of climate change image impacts of the last decade, Joanna Nurmis provides four concrete recommendations for photo editors wishing to employ images that maximize the public's affective, cognitive and behavioral engagement with this pressing issue.
- When possible, use local images to demonstrate local relevance of climate change impacts.
- Include people. Photographs that include people are typically much more engaging than photographs that do not.
- Go beyond showing victims of climate change. Strive to show inspiring examples of leaders or innovators.
- To the extent possible, show harbingers of enviable futures (such as green cities, energy neutral buildings, affordable electric cars) rather than markers of certain doom and destruction.
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Cite as: Nurmis, J. (2015) Using photographs to engage the public with climate change: a brief on communication strategies. George Mason University, Fairfax, VA: Center for Climate Change Communication. Available
HERE.
