Earth Day: Is it a joyful day of celebration or a gloomy day of remorse? I’m not sure—and it’s even more confusing when it comes to assessing the impact of media on the planet’s health.
Landfills are full of old photographs and used camera films. Film processing in traditional photography involves the use of hazardous chemicals that are bad for water and soil. Printed photographs require chemicals, ink and paper which contribute to pollution and deforestation.
Read more about photography, the environment and e-waste on our Objects & Stories pages.
Digital media isn’t much better, relying on data centres that consume huge amounts of electricity, which often comes from fossil fuels. E-waste from smartphones and other digital devices adds more to the landfill. Maintaining internet infrastructure adds to our carbon footprint.
Recognising this reality and addressing the importance of the environmental impact of our media is important. Does that mean all media is bad in terms of its environmental impact? Absolutely not. Powerful images of the planet created using film and photography help us appreciate the importance of looking after our environment.
Audiovisual media can demystify some of the seemingly magical forces and processes in the natural world. Time-lapse videos of nature that condense hours, days, or even years of events into just a few minutes or seconds are often breathtaking, thought-provoking and stunning.
Speeding up film has been possible since the early days of filmmaking. But early time-lapse films required significant manual effort to take hundreds or thousands of frames over time, which were then played back at normal speed.
The first notable use of time-lapse to capture nature was in 1930, when Pieter W. J. Langerhuizen used it to document plant growth. The rise of digital technology in the late 20th century made this effect much more widely accessible, with digital editing systems making time-lapse video production more accessible and cost-effective.
Watching the rapid transformation of a closed bud to a fully bloomed flower is fascinating, as is witnessing a solar eclipse, showing the shadow of the moon sweeping across the Earth.
Other extraordinary time-lapse images capture footage of star trails in the night sky and the motion of celestial bodies with the Earth’s rotation; and views of sunsets and thunderstorms via time-lapse footage from the International Space Station. Time-lapse footage capturing the explosive eruption of a volcano shows the Earth’s violent and dangerous force. It can leave us mesmerised and terrified in equal measure.
On the other hand, a time-lapse showing the break-up of large icebergs in the ocean, often due to climate change, reveals how fragile and vulnerable this planet of ours really is. Footage documenting the rapid expansion and development of a city over several years or decades explains why and how we find ourselves battling with more extreme weather conditions as a result of aggressive construction and fossil fuel use.
We would never have access to these heart-warming, heart-stopping and heart-breaking images if it was not for the power of media. Time-lapse film allows us to appreciate the infinite beauty of nature, but also make us face the often devastating impact of human activity on the planet.
As we pause to remind ourselves of the majestic glory of our one and only home, may we remember to be responsible media users and creators.
Happy Earth Day!