Visualising Nuclear Landscapes: Visual Simulation in the Licensing for Finnish Nuclear Facilities - Implementing Environmental and Resource Management - page 254

20.4 Expectations and Concerns towards the Use of

Imaging Technologies

Practitioners in planning have been enthusiastic about the possibilities visual
simulation has to offer in regard to decision making.
“People are good at understanding images, but they are bad at understanding informa-
tion presented in other forms” (Lange 1994, p. 111)
Although more than a decade has passed since Lange expressed his view his claim
still dictates practices in environmental planning such as the licensing procedure
for nuclear facilities in Finland, where reports are stylised and comparable to sales
magazines. Lange's phrase indicates the rhetorical power of images, and that they
work differently compared to texts. The effects of visual representation have been
described from a more critical perspective by Barry (1997) in regard to advertise-
ment. Barry notes that “consumers read visual language more quickly and easily
than verbal language” and that they “block out negative messages in favour of
positive messages” (Barry 1997, p. 277). The manipulated images of nuclear
power companies aim at similar effects, since the developer strives for implemen-
tation of the project.
In a more recent publication Cosgrove (2008) is concerned with the role of im-
ages in 20th century environmentalism and discusses how we read them. “The pic-
torial image veers towards the affective and sensuous rather than syllogistic and
analytic, and in more than merely its aesthetic aspect. Further, the eye engages a
picture as a whole, working across its surface in nonlinear (thus nonhistorical)
fashion.” (Cosgrove 2008, p. 1864) Cosgrove adds that certain combinations of
“line, form, composition, colour and tone generate immediate sensual and aes-
thetic responses” (Cosgrove 2008, p. 1864). The composition suggested by the de-
veloper does not only deliver aesthetic values, but engages the viewer to under-
stand at once what is otherwise only possible by endless reading through texts and
interpreting cartographic material.
Aerial views from the seaside including distant horizons and a rather small
power plant evoke certain sensations. Since very few residents have ever had the
possibility to look at the locality from 200 metres above the sea, and are used to
look at their environment from rather different angles, presented pictures aim to
produce a good “gestalt” 2 . Van den Berg (2006) explains how expectations on
compositions of images have developed over centuries:
“Histories of photography [...] tell and show us to what extent photographers, since the
very first beginnings of photography, have tried to imitate painted representations of na-
ture that have been developed by painters since the 15th century. The German noun
'Vorbild' reflects two dimensions of this relation: on the one hand, it means the preced-

2

Gestalt psychology discusses perception from a phenomenological perspective. It as-
sumes the cognitive organisation of visual impressions in regard to good shapes ( “ge-
stalt” ). However, this theory has been criticised for being descriptive rather than ex-
planative.