‘There’s a storm blowing in’

‘There’s a storm blowing in’ is intended to provide readers with a ‘slow read’ which centres visual communication as articulation, expression and call to hope within the environmental crisis we are living in. The storms alluded to have swept across our planet continuously and accumulatively for decades; they are social, political, environmental and ecological. They are unfairly distributed and will probably get worse. The images within the essay offer ballast. The text provides flow. The reader determines their own pace and direction. Formed in chapters, the work allows for resting points along the way. The imagery encourages reflection and mood. By referencing the words of James Baldwin, writer and civil rights activist, readers are reminded that without social and racial justice there is no environmental justice. Baldwin is summoned as a compassionate friend and guide, weaving past, present and imagined futures as echoes running forward and back.