Light painting photography makes particulate matter air pollution visible

Air pollution is a significant global health concern, causing millions of premature deaths annually. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 99% of the global population breathes polluted air, with particulate matter (PM) being a primary culprit. While the health impacts of PM are well-documented – including cardiovascular disease, stroke, and cancer – public awareness and engagement remain limited. Several factors contribute to this: the invisibility of PM, limited individual agency in reducing outdoor pollution, and the relatively low perceived daily risk for many. Art-science collaborations offer a promising avenue to improve public awareness and engagement by leveraging the affective domain of learning, which complements the cognitive understanding provided by scientific evidence. This project, titled "Air of the Anthropocene," aimed to make the invisible problem of air pollution visible and to stimulate dialogue and action.

Existing research underscores the link between knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes towards air pollution and behavioral change. Studies highlight the need for raising awareness of both the problem and potential solutions, especially in low-income settings. However, public indifference often stems from the ubiquity and invisibility of air pollution, limited individual agency, and the prioritization of more immediate concerns like access to basic necessities. Previous work has explored the potential of art-science collaborations in addressing environmental issues, demonstrating that art can enhance engagement and elicit emotional responses, thereby fostering a more intuitive understanding of complex scientific concepts.

The study employed a novel light painting technique to visualize air pollution. Low-cost, calibrated air pollution sensors measured PM mass concentrations in real-time. This data controlled a moving LED array, whose flashes were recorded during long-exposure photography. The frequency of the LED flashes directly correlated with PM concentration, creating a visual representation of the pollution levels. The researchers conducted light painting photography in diverse locations in Ethiopia, India, and the UK, capturing variations in PM concentration across different environments (e.g., industrial areas, playgrounds, indoor kitchens). In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a postcard survey was implemented to gather student perspectives on air pollution, its causes, potential solutions, and relevant stakeholders. The data collected from the postcards were analyzed using the behavioral change wheel technique to understand the "capability," "opportunity," and "motivation" of students to reduce air pollution.

Light painting photography effectively visualized PM concentrations in various settings. In Port Talbot, UK, the technique captured PM2.5 levels of 30-40 µg/m³ near a steelworks. A comparison of two Indian playgrounds revealed stark differences: Delhi showed 500-600 µg/m³, while Palampur showed 30-40 µg/m³, highlighting the impact of location. In Addis Ababa, outdoor PM2.5 levels were 10-20 µg/m³, while an indoor kitchen using biomass stoves reached 150-200 µg/m³, demonstrating significant indoor-outdoor disparities. The postcard survey in Addis Ababa showed high awareness among students regarding both household and ambient air pollution, its causes (e.g., vehicle emissions, waste burning), and health impacts. Students identified the government as a key stakeholder for implementing solutions, while suggesting actions like tree planting, improved vehicle maintenance, and the promotion of sustainable energy sources. The qualitative analysis revealed high motivation but limited perceived opportunity for individual actions to address the problem due to the ingrained nature of the pollution's source and the reliance on governmental influence for mitigating action.

The Air of the Anthropocene project successfully made the invisible problem of air pollution visible through a creative and engaging approach. The light painting technique fulfilled the first of Ostrom's conditions for successful environmental management by making the problem visible. By providing a visual representation easily understood by a broad audience, it increased comprehension of causes and effects, contributing towards fulfilling the second condition. The comparison of air pollution levels across diverse locations demonstrated the potential for visual representations of pollution to make the third and fourth criteria (reversibility and clear benefits) more readily apparent. The project's success is evident in its widespread recognition, including publications in various media outlets and its utilization by organizations like UN-Habitat for awareness campaigns. The postcard survey results highlight both the awareness and the perceived limitations in individual agency to combat air pollution, emphasizing the need for larger-scale interventions and policy changes.

This art-science collaboration demonstrated the potential of light painting photography as a powerful tool for visualizing and communicating the impacts of air pollution. The findings underscore the need for a holistic approach encompassing awareness campaigns, pollution monitoring, effective communication of results, and targeted interventions. The study suggests that artistic interventions can meaningfully engage the public, stimulate discussions, and contribute to the development of more effective air quality management strategies. Future directions include expanding the digital representation techniques and fostering open-source methodologies to ensure wider accessibility and broader impacts.

The study's reliance on a single type of sensor may limit the comprehensiveness of PM characterization. The postcard survey focused on a specific group of students in Addis Ababa, which might not be fully representative of the broader population. While the project shows high levels of awareness among the surveyed students, the generalizability of this awareness to other communities is unknown. The study also acknowledges the challenge in quantifying the long-term impacts of art-science collaborations on behavioral change.