Ocean Visuals collection launched

93 evidence-based photographs selected by an independent jury

Freely available to the media, non-profits, campaigners and educators

Increasing the diversity and impact of climate and visual communications

What is Ocean Visuals?

• The Ocean Visuals open call for photography, held in September 2022, has created a new evidence-based collection of impactful and truly diverse ocean and coastal climate imagery.
• The release of the collection is the third phase of the project:
  1. Building evidence base on effective ocean-climate imagery
  2. Open call for photography
  3. Dissemination of image collection
• The initiative is a response to the urgent need for more impactful, diverse and equitably accessible ocean-climate imagery.
• The project is a partnership between Climate Visuals and Communications Inc, funded by Erol, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch) and Macdoch Foundation / NPT Transatlantic.
• Our Australian impact partner Glider Global led the concept, creative and design for the promotional campaign, and we continue to give partners open access to the growing Ocean Visuals social media pack to amplify the reach and uplift of the project globally.

Photography brief, collection aims and resources

Visual media is vital to connect with audiences, but ocean, coastal and climate imagery is often ineffective, inaccessible or absent. Communicators and editors resort to using the same familiar metaphors, poorly representing people’s experiences and connecting with a very limited sector of the world’s population - missing a vital opportunity for real and lasting public engagement.

Climate Visuals and Communications Inc developed the following guidance and briefing note for the Ocean Visuals open call based on industry best practice, published research and evidence on people’s responses to imagery.

These guidelines on ethics, values and image manipulation and our numbered principles are designed to support the commissioning, production and editing of photography around ocean and climate.

Judging process

The final 93 images were all selected by our independent jury, using an additive voting process, considering submissions against our photographic brief, their opinions and lived experience.

Accessible Terms and Conditions

• Photographers own the images submitted and showed evidence of ownership and authenticity when requested.
• Images were selected by an independent and diverse jury using the main photography brief containing our published values, ethics, ocean-climate notes and summary evidence base. The image selection was reviewed by both the jury and the advisory board before publication.
• A licence fee of USD $1000 is available to photographers for each of the 93 images selected. Each photographer could submit a maximum of 20 single images but may have had multiple images selected by the jury.
• In exchange for the $1000 licensing fee, the photographer has given to Climate Visuals an irrevocable Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) worldwide and in perpetuity licence for that single image.
• Climate Outreach is now supplying the 93 selected images under Creative Commons licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) to other non-profit organisations, educators and editorial media via registration and download from the Climate Visuals library.
• Climate Outreach and selected partners can use all submitted images in research and to promote this project, crediting the photographer wherever possible.
• Climate Outreach will not sell or manipulate the images.
• Photographers should understand the ethics, opportunity and risk regarding both the people and places depicted in the submitted images. For additional information, see the photography brief.
• To complete their entry, participants have confirmed they have understood and accepted our full and legal terms & conditions.