Light painting photography makes particulate matter air pollution visible

The World Health Organization estimates that air pollution causes approximately seven million premature deaths worldwide each year. Solutions to air pollution are well known, yet this rarely equates to easily actionable. Here we demonstrate how art science collaboration can successfully highlight the issue of air pollution and create wider civic discourse around its amelioration. We document a light painting photographic technique that uses data from calibrated low-cost particulate matter sensors to measure and depict air pollution. We also use a postcard technique to grasp individuals’ sentiments regarding air pollution. The photographs from three countries, Ethiopia, India and United Kingdom, visually highlight the importance of location and occupation upon human exposure. The photographs are used as a proxy to communicate and create dialogues, spaces and places about air pollution. The sentiment analysis shows how this approach can foster awareness and create agency for stakeholders to take actions to tackle air pollution.