Digital environmental activism: Narratives of decline and hope in Instagram before-and-after photographs

Rezagholizadeh, Behnam

doi:10.22059/jcss.2026.411239.1230

Digital environmental activism: Narratives of decline and hope in Instagram before-and-after photographs

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original article

Author

Behnam Rezagholizadeh

Department of Communication Sciences, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran.

10.22059/jcss.2026.411239.1230

Abstract

Background: In recent decades, Iran has faced multiple forms of environmental decline, such as water crises, drying up of lakes and rivers, air pollution, and forest destruction. In such a context, Instagram has become one of the most important spaces for informal environmental activism in Iran.
Aims: This study involves the simultaneous construction of the narrative of "irreversible decline" and "hope for collective action" as well as the identification of the semiotic system and layers of signification in four comparative "before and after" images posted on Instagram that refer to the decline of Lake Urmia, Zayandeh Rud, Karun, Hamun, urban air pollution, and the destruction of Fandoghloo Forest.
Methodology: Adopting a qualitative approach and drawing on Kress and van Leeuwen's social semiotics- which conceptualizes the image as comprising three dimensions of meaning (representational, interactive, and compositional)- this study examines the Instagram platform. The unit of analysis consists of "before and after" comparative images related to Iran's environmental issues, with a focus on the narratives of decline and hope. Samples were selected purposively, and the analysis is solely concerned with the visual meaning and narrative of the images.
Findings: The images produce a powerful narrative of environmental decline by using temporal comparison, high modality, and ideological arrangement, and by linking the crisis to symbolic places, they activate collective memory and identity. The visual contrast between the lush past and the dry or polluted present evokes feelings of nostalgia, sadness, and environmental mourning, and provides the context for the formation of Affective Publics. At the same time, these images have the potential to transform mourning into active hope and collective action.
Conclusion: Digital environmental activism in Iran relies mainly on visual-emotional strategies of decline, but for long-term sustainability, it requires the development of hope-based and constructive narratives. By providing a local analysis of the limited media environment, this study adds to the global literature on environmental visual communication and highlights the dual role of platform logic in empowering and constraining activism.

Keywords

Main Subjects

humanities & social sciences

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