Chapter 4. Animal photojournalism as knowledge translation

Abstract

This chapter explores the ways in which photojournalism (specifically animal activist photography of domesticated animals) functions as translation and, in particular, knowledge translation. Referring broadly to the synthesis, exchange, and application of knowledge produced during research processes, knowledge translation actively bridges the chasm between the acquisition of knowledge and application of knowledge. By providing visual information that verbal communication would otherwise not be able to convey, animal activist photography is not only a translational process of the knowledge of the activist/photographer behind the lens, but also the plight of the animal in front of the lens. Furthermore, by approaching this study within ecosemiotics, a branch of semiotics that explores the human relationships to nature this chapter engages with the human/non-human relations that are represented by animal activist photojournalism.