A visual study on the use of photography in representation of realities of climate change

Abstract

Climate change and its impacts is at its loudest concern as a global crisis in the history of humanity. Its significance has been provided for in the Millennium Development Goals from 2000 where it made Goal 7; “Ensure environmental sustainability,” all the way to the Sustainable Development goals (SDGS) of 2015 to 2030 where the urgency for climate action has been more pronounced at goals 12, 13, 14 & 15 (Sachs, 2012. United Nations, 2015). “Nevertheless, our collective actions do not yet approximate a real understanding nor fully appropriate actions” for a people living in the emergency of climate change. ( Gills & Morgan, 2019)

Uganda is one of the countries committed to climate action and mitigation and is party to the Agenda 2030 which is informed by the Global SDGs that have a concurrent effect on the country’s National Development plan (United Nations, 2022). According to the National Development Plan III, the Uganda Vision 2040 calls for development of appropriate adaptation and mitigation strategies on Climate Change to ensure that Uganda is sufficiently cushioned from any adverse impact brought by climate change (National Development Plan III, 2020/2021).

However, the reality on ground is very parallel to the vision on paper in regard to Uganda’s climate change impacts in local communities. Using participatory and documentary photography, this study found that the local people living along the shores of Lake Victoria and banks of River Nile, interacting with effects of climate change in their everyday life have little to no knowledge about the concept of climate change, let alone the extent of its impacts at both national and global level. This is partly due to the fact that climate change impacts in the media have been presented as a far off foreign problem that manifests as bushfires in Australia or melting glaciers in Antarctica due to global warming, but not flooding of lake shores at the local landing site in Jinja, Uganda. Semujju (2013) affirms that the media in Uganda cover the resonating frame, which argues that climate change is a time bomb, with total disregard for other views or their existence. Local impacts of climate change in Uganda are continually getting treated as a passing, seasonal, on and off community problem special to a particular area A or B, and nothing more. As a result, the frames of climate change impacts repeated by the media become ‘the one reality’ at the expense of other experiences which are just as consequential in the dynamics of climate change. It is against this background that this study brings local narratives and experiences of the realities of climate change impacts on livelihoods of ordinary people in Uganda, to the forefront in the global conversation on climate change and its effects. The study hinged on cultivation theory which posits that prolonged exposure to media messages shapes individuals' perceptions of reality and influences their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors (Gerbner, Gross, Morgan, Signorielli, & Shanahan, 2002). The study also used visual culture theory which focuses on the study of visual images, such as those seen in pictures, movies, artwork, and other visual media, as well as their influence on how we perceive culture, society, and the wider world. Visual research methods and techniques such as photo elicitation and documentary photography were employed to bring out the realities of climate change and its impacts on the livelihoods of everyday people living and working at Ripon landing site in Jinja, Uganda. This study found that climate migration is one of the major impacts and practised solutions of climate change in grassroot communities.