Journal article
Seeing is questioning: prompting sustainability discourses through an evocative visual agenda
Ecology and Society, Vol.20(4), pp.1-9
2015
Abstract
I explore the potential utility of visual imagery to engage viewers in connecting ways with dynamic social-ecological contexts. Constructing photographs in response to the mass stranding of birds (shearwaters) on the east coast of Australia in 2013, I demonstrate the potential of wildlife and landscape photography to represent the impacts of environmental change at personal, relational, spatial, and temporal scales simultaneously. In so doing, I suggest that the production and interpretation of photographs can lead to responses that: (1) foster attentive forms of vision in familiar contexts; (2) provoke reflexive self-examination and critiques of broader, complex systems; (3) develop emotional connections with those impacted by social-ecological change; and (4) provide a foundation for precautionary behavioral change in uncertain contexts. Consequently, 'seeing' is reconceptualized as questioning, not believing, and as a valuable contribution to learning for sustainability and resilience.
Details
- Title
- Seeing is questioning: prompting sustainability discourses through an evocative visual agenda
- Authors
- Dana C Thomsen (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Arts and Business
- Publication details
- Ecology and Society, Vol.20(4), pp.1-9
- Publisher
- Resilience Alliance Publications
- Date published
- 2015
- DOI
- 10.5751/ES-07925-200409
- ISSN
- 1708-3087
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2015 by the author(s). Published under license by The Resilience Alliance. Reproduced with the permission of the author(s).
- Organisation Unit
- School of Social Sciences - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Society
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99449399202621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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