Depicting Deforestation: National Geographic’s Amazonian Deforestation

Andrew Rappold

Advisor: Dr. Ann Reynolds

Abstract

National Geographic publishes hundreds of stories each year with their photographs focusing upon Amazonian deforestation provide audiences a tool for understanding the scale of climate change and the relevance of human actions upon the environment. To emphasize the importance of National Geographic’s, three photographs are selected from their publications to serve as locus of discussion. The three photographs each center the Amazon rainforest in various states of destruction as the central subject. Following initial discussion of the photograph, text, and wider journalistic context, the paper examines both the environmental and photographic implications for climate change. Particular emphasis belongs to National Geographic’s implications in their connection of photographs as a tool to climate action and the degradation of the environment. Contrary to initial assumptions, the photographs which accompany the written stories often serve an entirely different purpose for climate change awareness. The written stories emphasize the statistics and the global impact of climate change with human action more akin to an afterthought. Whereas the photographs underline human involvement in climate change providing imagery applicable to climate change beyond the Amazon rainforest, enabling more global engagement with local issues from climate change.