This Immersive Photograph Exhibit Shows That Being Aware Of Climate Change Is Not Enough

You are well aware that fossil fuels can be harmful, that glaciers are melting and that sea levels continue to rise. But it is immersive. Kennedy Center documentary photography exhibition COAL + ICE argues that it’s not enough for us to just be aware of the climate crisis.

Asia Society, a non-profit organization, produced the show. 50 photographers and video artists from all over the world contributed their work. Visitors are greeted by suspended photographs of the Himalayan Mountains and glaciers as they enter the exhibition space of 30,000 feet. These photos are surrounded by historical and contemporary portraits depicting coal miners. These portraits can be arranged into small cubicles where four images face one another. The cubicles contain images that depict the causes and effects of climate change. Viewers can move through them to see the images. The show was curated by Susan Meiselas, Magnum photographer, and Jeroen De Vries, exhibition designer. They wanted viewers to feel what they see rather than just think about it.“It’s a different relationship than experiencing the material that you have lived through or read about in the news,” Meiselas says. “You experience it differently in this immersive space and these projected digital projections.”

Over the past decade, the now-expansive exhibition of photographs has seen many changes. It started as a much smaller collection of coal photographs taken by 18 Chinese photographers called “Mined in China.” In 2008, Meiselas and Orville Schell, the author and journalist who heads the Center of U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society, opened the show in Houston to visualize the impact of China’s booming coal industry on miners and the environment. Three years later, Meiselas and Schell came together with de Vries to add photographs of the melting ice glaciers on the Tibetan plateau and the rising waters of Asia’s rivers. This exhibit now features images of forest fires, which is the first time they have ever been done.

Schell has written numerous times about the urgent need to cooperate between the United States, China and other countries on climate change over time, but no one listens climate experts, scientists, or activists trying to raise awareness to the issue. “It just gets worse and worse and worse” Schell says. “So, we thought why not try to do something that is incredibly beautiful and horrifying.” In other words, he decided to let people see the effects of climate change for themselves. Visitors are encouraged to take a self-guided tour through the exhibit, have conversations with others about the photos, and reflect on their relationship with climate change.

While Washington and China might be the key to solving our major environmental issues, Meiselas states that the exhibition complements the work of activists as well as policymakers. “It’s for the policymakers to come together to figure out what is doable,” Meiselas says. “But the arts activate, motivate, and connect us.”

But it’s not enough to just look at photographical evidence of climate change and discuss it amongst other visitors. The trio hopes connect and mobilize Washingtonians from all eight wards through a  six-week festival of climate-related events. The festivities will start on March 16After a guided tour of this exhibit, there will be a discussion about South African art and climate. COAL + ICEGideon Mendel, a photographer, Sari Nordman, a Finnish performance artist, and other climate activists. Other events include a conversation between Al Gore, youth climate leaders, storytelling performances and concerts, as well as an Earth Day celebration.

COAL + ICEThe Kennedy Center will host a show until April 22, 2022. 

Assistant Editor

Damare Baker was an editor fellow for Washingtonian before she became an assistant editor. She has also written for Voice of America, and The Hill. She graduated from Georgetown University and studied journalism, Korean relations, and international relations.