2 Global Warming: Postcards from the Sea

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John Farmer
5 years ago
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1 1 2 Global Warming: Postcards from the Sea Project Outline This project seeks to communicate some of the effects that 2 global temperatures increase will have on some marine invertebrates living locally on the Otago Peninsula. The method used was to create photographic postcards that could be sold in shops or left in cafes etc. to be taken and used as postcards or put on the wall or fridge for their visual appeal. On the back of the postcard is a photo information caption in the top left corner (where the photo was taken, what species etc.) and a caption at the bottom left discussing an issue that this creature faces with a 2 temperature rise. This method of communication seeks to reach an audience that may not actively seek out information about marine creatures or climate change and uses the visual aesthetics of beauty, cuteness and the alien to draw the audience in. Ideally someone would buy or take a postcard based on its visual appeal, having an empathetic response to the visual and the text and either send it as a postcard (thus spreading the message) or keeping it on the fridge or wall etc. where family and friends may also see it. This could appeal to tourists and locals alike as the images are not overtly touristy but are of local wildlife as evidenced by the caption. Two images are used for each creature/issue to cover more visual style appeal. There is to be no accompanying text other than what is on the back of the postcard. The postcards are shown below with the front page shown first then the back page (text) shown after. These are made to a common postcard scale. Rationale of Visualization General The project seeks to draw in a new audience as discussed above and this is done almost completely visually through simple, striking images that are uncluttered. They do not overtly say anything which is both good and bad. Without the reading on the back they could be simply pretty pictures, but without the simplicity and beauty that comes with it, people may be turned off in the first place. The size and detail within the photographs are designed to be effective at the scale of a postcard (~ 10x16cm, which is what they are) so they cannot be cluttered or too detailed and must have instant visual appeal so that someone who is unmotivated initially is drawn to pick the card up and hopefully buy/take/read it. The visuals use elements of cuteness, beauty, and the alien to draw the eye in and a very shallow depth of field to draw out the important elements in each picture and draw in the viewer. Viewing the world on their (the creatures) scale and at their level (rather than from above etc.) creates instant empathy as we can relate to their world in a way we couldn t with our own eyes. In this way macro photography gives an advantage to the communicator.

2 2 What science content you have tried to express visually? In the Spotted Top Shell (Diloma aethiops) example I am mainly trying to show how important the shell is to this creature and therefore how devastating it would be to lose it. The acidification of the oceans is a hard thing for humans to grasp because we are land creatures and find it hard to relate to. So I visually made the shell very prominent (through framing and depth of field control) and isolated to make it feel like a safe place, like home. Then when we read the words over the page (on postcard) we have a place for those vague feelings (that people hopefully pick up on subconsciously) to go and they get the full picture in a nutshell. The bubbles on the shell also remind one of bubbling acid but this is not of course true but helps the image without misrepresenting the science. In each of the other examples the method is the same and most of the science comes in though the text over the page but links nicely with the felling of the image on the front. The Krill looks small, cute, alien and vulnerable, and then we read that they are becoming more vulnerable to predation due to ice melting. In the crab images we see a bulky crab that is not all pincers and mouthparts as is often the case but a more intimate and cheeky looking animal that still looks both beautiful and powerful. This helps with the science delivery when we hear that they could become more powerful and voracious predators with more CO 2 because we don t hate an ugly creature but rather see our own part in the story as the initiator of this story. What merits/methods of visual communication you were trying to apply? Empathy is tricky with creatures that are not inherently cute or beautiful in an instantly human way. I think that macro photography using a shallow depth of field and being at the creatures own level (their perspective/ view of the world) instantly creates empathy in the way it can make you relate to creatures that are far too small to relate to otherwise. I was definitely going for a nice look to draw the viewer in over something that conveyed anything overt about climate change at first glance. I think this is valid as empathy is the name of the game with creatures that don t usually get that kind of treatment so to hook people in is the most important visual element. How effectively you think you achieved both 1 & 2, and justify why? The science content within this project is simple and minimal. This is both a product of the target audience (previously non-interested people) and the medium in which the science is communicated (photographic postcards). The science has to be communicated in a very small space to fir the convention of a postcard and be of a casual but interesting delivery so the viewer doesn t just stop reading. Visually the images need to be a drawcard or hook more than a teaching device otherwise the potential audience will not even pick it up. This is an inherent problem with this type of communication where you are going outside a target market that is actively interested in the science to one that would rather not bother but oooohhh look at the pretty picture! I think it is always a balancing act and one that I prefer to swing I the direction of doing whatever it takes to draw in a new audience as long as the science is not misrepresented or animals are not mistreated etc. That is not to say it is the only way, and I think that a more science heavy approach is also needed sometimes but for my target audience of someone casually skimming the coffee table at a café, I

3 3 think my concept works reasonably well. I aim to spark interest and remind rather than teach or lecture here. I think particularly in the two shell examples the feeling I was trying to create (mentioned above) and the science it is carrying match really well. I have described this above as to why this is so. Self-Critique I think the project idea and look works pretty well and would reach an interesting audience not usually targeted. I think it creates empathy well but of course falls down slightly on the science which is a trade-off. As mentioned above, this is due to the nature of a postcard limitation and the target audience. The research that I did focused on certain species that I couldn t find to photograph when I went out to the Peninsula to get the shots so I was limited to animals that I found and had to change my angles for the final product where other species would have been much more elegant in terms of the science communication. Time management to allow multiple trips out to the peninsula and enough time after this to change my research would have been wise. The Postcards The postcards follow over the next few pages and are in the dimensions of common postcards. They are unlabelled and are as they would be if printed on card (apart from needing to be cut out).

4 Spotted Top Shell (Diloma aethiops) Imagine if every time you built a home, it fell apart. One day, the ocean will be so acidic that I won t be able to build a shell to live in.

4 4 Spotted Top Shell (Diloma aethiops) Imagine if every time you built a home, it fell apart. One day, the ocean will be so acidic that I won t be able to build a shell to live in. The ocean is working overtime to clean up human CO 2 emissions but this process is making our ocean home more acidic. My shell is made up of calcium carbonate and aragonite which dissolve in acidic water. And I can t live without my shell! Everybody needs a home, so spare a thought for us marine snails.

5 Spotted Top Shell (Diloma aethiops) Imagine if every time you built a home, it fell apart. One day, the ocean will be so acidic that I won t be able to build a shell to live in.

5 5 Spotted Top Shell (Diloma aethiops) Imagine if every time you built a home, it fell apart. One day, the ocean will be so acidic that I won t be able to build a shell to live in. The ocean is working overtime to clean up human CO 2 emissions but this process is making our ocean home more acidic. My shell is made up of calcium carbonate and aragonite which dissolve in acidic water. And I can t live without my shell! Everybody needs a home, so spare a thought for us marine snails.

6 6 Krill (Nyctiphanes australis) I may be small, but without me and my kind, entire marine ecosystems would collapse. Already my cousins down south in Antarctica are struggling because the sea ice that they live under is melting. During winter they hide under the ice from predators such as whales and penguins and feed off the algae that grow there. A 2 increase in temperature will melt a lot more ice which is not good news for any of us that live in the ocean. Being at the bottom of the food chain means that every other species depends on our survival because everyone wants to eat us!

7 7 Krill (Nyctiphanes australis) I may be small, but without me and my kind, entire marine ecosystems would collapse. Already my cousins down south in Antarctica are struggling because the sea ice that they live under is melting. During winter they hide under the ice from predators such as whales and penguins and feed off the algae that grow there. A 2 increase in temperature will melt a lot more ice which is not good news for any of us that live in the ocean. Being at the bottom of the food chain means that every other species depends on our survival because everyone wants to eat us!

8 8 Common Shore Crab (Hemigrapsus sexdentatus) I m actually looking forward to 2 increase in global temperatures! The more CO 2 people use to heat the planet up, the more ends up in the oceans where it changes to acid causing shellfish s shells to get thinner. Which means it s easier to get my dinner! I can crush those shells more easily now, and the extra CO 2 in the water may actually make me grow bigger and stronger too. The rich get richer it seems. Not such good news for all the shellfish and snails I m going to eat but hey, I m not the one pumping out all that CO 2!

9 9 Common Shore Crab (Hemigrapsus sexdentatus) I m actually looking forward to 2 increase in global temperatures! The more CO 2 people use to heat the planet up, the more ends up in the oceans where it changes to acid causing shellfish s shells to get thinner. Which means it s easier to get my dinner! I can crush those shells more easily now, and the extra CO 2 in the water may actually make me grow bigger and stronger too. The rich get richer it seems. Not such good news for all the shellfish and snails I m going to eat but hey, I m not the one pumping out all that CO 2!

AUSTRALIAN BIRDS TEACHERS NOTES. Written by Matt Chun Published by Hardie Grant Egmont in October 2018 SYNOPSIS

AUSTRALIAN BIRDS TEACHERS NOTES. Written by Matt Chun Published by Hardie Grant Egmont in October 2018 SYNOPSIS SYNOPSIS It took millions of years of isolation and a diverse range of habitats for Australian birds to evolve the way they did. The result is many of the world s most striking and beautiful birds, including