Photo Exhibition Exposes London Air Pollution

A photo exhibition turns pollution into art to raise awareness about London's persistent air-quality problem Ben STANSALL AFP/File
A photo exhibition turns pollution into art to raise awareness about London's persistent air-quality problem Ben STANSALL AFP/File
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Photo Exhibition Exposes London Air Pollution

A photo exhibition turns pollution into art to raise awareness about London's persistent air-quality problem Ben STANSALL AFP/File
A photo exhibition turns pollution into art to raise awareness about London's persistent air-quality problem Ben STANSALL AFP/File

An unconventional photography exhibition in London has turned toxic pollution into art to raise awareness about the British capital's persistent air-quality problems.

Visual artists and scientists have teamed up for the exhibition, entitled What On Earth, which explores the climate crisis through 26 artworks, running until July 24.

Exhibits include ethereal images on delicate dark blue paper with splashes of white that evoke pristine oceans but actually show the contamination of London's air.

They were produced using air samples provided by scientists at Imperial College London.

The samples were then captured and printed using cyanotype, a traditional method of producing images from light that enables sunlight to reveal toxic particles.

The Crown Estate, which manages property owned by Queen Elizabeth II, gave The Koppel Project, the arts charity behind the show, a disused retail unit rent-free for a year in sought-after central London.

The deal was in exchange for establishing an artistic community and getting a discussion under way, said curator Ellen Taylor.

"The goal was to address social and political issues we see in the news to create a conversation," she said.

"I'm hoping this show can demonstrate how nature can be the subject of photography, using air pollution and sound to document how our environment is changing."

Pollution levels plummeted across the world last year as people stayed at home during coronavirus lockdowns but have picked up as restrictions ease and more people avoid public transport.

Air pollution can create and exacerbate cardiovascular diseases and asthma and has been linked with cognitive diseases like dementia.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates it is responsible for seven million premature deaths annually worldwide.

A June report found that more than 25 percent of UK schools were located in areas above the WHO's recommended air pollution levels.

- 'Pea soup' -
One of the showcased artists Alice Cazenave used a glass plate to collect pollution in central London for weeks.

The city has a long history of poor air quality, with its thick "pea soup" smog leading to major clean air legislation in the 1950s.

It introduced a congestion charge in 2003, billing motorists entering the city centre £15 ($21, 18 euros) every day.

The owners of vehicles exceeding emissions thresholds will pay additional fees of up to £100 in an expanded low-emission zone from October, as Sadiq Khan seeks to become the city's "greenest mayor".

Air pollution caused around 1,000 annual hospital admissions for asthma and serious lung conditions in London between 2014 and 2016, according to a 2019 report.

In December, a coroner ruled that air pollution made a "material contribution" to the death of a nine-year-old London girl in 2013 -- the first time in Britain that air pollution was officially listed as a cause of death.

It is against this backdrop that the exhibition wants to put the issue at the forefront of people's minds and encourage action.

"The processes and subject matter is a great way to show the ever-changing environment we see today," added Taylor.



Penguin Memes Take Flight after Trump Tariffs Remote Island

A waddle of King penguins, some of the only inhabitants of the Australian territory of Heard Island -- which is among those targeted by US President Donald Trump's tariffs. Matt CURNOCK / AUSTRALIAN ANTARCTIC DIVISION/AFP
A waddle of King penguins, some of the only inhabitants of the Australian territory of Heard Island -- which is among those targeted by US President Donald Trump's tariffs. Matt CURNOCK / AUSTRALIAN ANTARCTIC DIVISION/AFP
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Penguin Memes Take Flight after Trump Tariffs Remote Island

A waddle of King penguins, some of the only inhabitants of the Australian territory of Heard Island -- which is among those targeted by US President Donald Trump's tariffs. Matt CURNOCK / AUSTRALIAN ANTARCTIC DIVISION/AFP
A waddle of King penguins, some of the only inhabitants of the Australian territory of Heard Island -- which is among those targeted by US President Donald Trump's tariffs. Matt CURNOCK / AUSTRALIAN ANTARCTIC DIVISION/AFP

Donald Trump's tariffs have become a black and white issue on social media, where penguin memes have gone viral after he targeted an island inhabited by the flightless birds, but no people.

One widely shared image on Thursday showed a penguin in place of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky in the Oval Office during his recent row with the US president and Vice President JD Vance.

Another meme showed US First Lady Melania Trump gazing up at an emperor penguin -- in place of former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau -- while Trump looks askance.

Trump's announcement of worldwide tariffs on Wednesday certainly received an icy reception in many countries.

But there has also been bafflement about why some of the most remote parts of the world have been targeted.

A case in point: why would Trump slap 10 percent tariffs on all exports from the Heard and McDonald Islands, a barren sub-Antarctic Australian territory without a human population, but four different species of penguin?

"The penguins have been ripping us off for years," Anthony Scaramucci, who was Trump's former communications chief for 11 days in his first term and is now a vocal critic, joked on X.

"Donald Trump slapped tariffs on penguins and not on Putin," posted US Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, referring to the fact that Russia was not on the US tariff list.

The White House said sanctions on Russia over President Vladimir Putin's war on meant that there was no "meaningful" trade on which to impose tariffs.

Trump also caused puzzlement with his 29 percent tariff on Norfolk Island, a tiny Australian territory in the Pacific with a population of a little over 2,000 humans.

"I'm not quite sure that Norfolk Island, with respect to it, is a trade competitor with the giant economy of the United States," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

Britain's remote Falkland Islands -- home to one million penguins, and most famous for a 1982 war fought by Britain to repel Argentinian invaders -- was hit by 41 percent exports even though the UK only faces 10 percent.

Trump's tariffs have however been no laughing matter for global markets, with US stocks suffering their worst day since the Covid pandemic in 2020.