Visualize sustainability: engaging photography as a means of...

Visualize sustainability: engaging photography as a means of communication

La Fédération de recherche en environnement et durabilité (FERED, Unistra & CNRS) organise une conférence de Pia Parolin intitulée « Visualize sustainability: engaging photography as a means of communication ».

As scientists, we are aware of the importance of sustainability. Our goal is to communicate our knowledge and help to induce changes of awareness and attitudes in the society. Thus, we need scientific data, but also good communication skills. We document change, we publish sound data in papers, books, on conferences and in round tables. But we need to enhance our communication, e.g. through visualization, and address the human and not merely the scientific level of understanding the importance of sustainability.

In order to visualize our results and concerns, photography can be a powerful tool. We see photos and remember them, they evoke emotions.

In this presentation, I will talk about the power of pictures, how to visualize something abstract, and how to create emotions through photography which can support unemotional scientific data. I explain how to be clear on the questions, the subjects, how to identify and generate messages, how to chose the right photo format and employ composition, color, shapes, perspectives to get attention. I share ideas on how to present your photos. But I also give insights on how to use photography to heal your soul, get over solastalgia and use your creative activity and the mental state of flow to get back to a more positive, hopeful, confident state of mind which is necessary to be a good communicator and scientist.