Resource: Sustainability in Photography 2025/6
As photography educators prepare for the 2025–26 academic year, sustainability is becoming a core teaching and operational priority - driven by climate awareness, student expectations, and sector-wide commitments to reduce emissions. This applies equally to traditional photographic practice and to the growing use of AI-powered image editing.
1. Physical Practice – Materials, Printing, and Exhibitions
Low-Impact Printing
Choose FSC-certified, recycled, or tree-free papers (bamboo, hemp, cotton rag).
Use pigment-based inks for longevity and reduced reprinting.
Employ proofing workflows and monitor calibration to cut down on test prints.
Print in batches and use energy-saving modes on printers.
Sustainable Material Sourcing
Source from local suppliers to minimise transport emissions.
Replace foam board with recyclable alternatives like honeycomb cardboard.
Implement material audits in student briefs to encourage conscious choices.
Carbon-Aware Exhibition Planning
Use carbon budget calculators to plan events.
Reduce transport by adopting hybrid or virtual exhibitions.
Select LED lighting with timers and re-use or donate exhibition materials afterwards.
2. Digital Practice – AI in Image Editing and Environmental Impact
AI is now embedded in most leading image editors - Capture One, Photoshop, Lightroom, Luminar - and is also central to generative platforms like DALL·E, Midjourney, and Topaz. While AI offers creative and workflow efficiencies, it carries environmental costs:
Environmental Impacts
High energy use in training and running AI models, particularly in data centres.
Data transfer emissions from uploading large image files for cloud processing.
Hardware churn from increased GPU/CPU demands, contributing to e-waste.
Ways to Reduce Impact
Run AI tools locally where possible, avoiding unnecessary cloud uploads.
Cull before editing to avoid processing unused images.
Batch AI processes and turn off “always-on” previews.
Choose AI providers using renewable-powered infrastructure (e.g., Photoroom’s partnership with Genesis Cloud).
Extend hardware lifespan through targeted upgrades rather than full replacements.
Case Example – Sustainable Capture One Workflow
Use AI masking only for selected images.
Work with Smart Previews or reduced-resolution proxies before full-res export.
Export at sizes fit for purpose - avoid over-specifying.
Schedule heavy processing during low-demand hours to reduce grid impact.
3. Embedding Sustainability into Teaching
For both FE/secondary and HE, sustainability should not sit in a separate “green policy” folder - it should be integrated into core learning:
Make sustainability part of assessment criteria - students should justify material and digital choices in terms of environmental footprint as well as creative intent.
Set project briefs such as “Sustainability as Practice”, requiring students to minimise environmental impact from concept to display.
Teach the carbon cost of AI workflows alongside traditional print and exhibition considerations.
Use cross-disciplinary collaborations with environmental science, geography, or design departments.
4. Strategic Benefits for 2025/26
Embedding sustainability in both physical and digital photographic practice:
Meets growing student demand for climate-conscious learning.
Prepares graduates for industry roles where environmental responsibility is a selection factor.
Aligns institutional teaching with national and sector-wide sustainability goals.
Dr Graham Wilson is a Departmental Tutor in Psychology and Counselling at the University of Oxford, the author of a number of Psychology, Photography, and Organisational Behaviour textbooks, and a member of the APHE executive committee.
