Chlorotype as visual ecology: rethinking critical visual literacy in early childhood

Abstract

In a context shaped by the intersection of ecological crisis and digital visual saturation, this article proposes rethinking critical visual literacy from early childhood. Rather than approaches focused on the interpretation of circulating images, it situates the critical dimension in the material production of images. Drawing on arts-based research, the study examines a chlorotype practice with children aged one to two, understood not as a didactic technique but as an alternative visual regime. By linking image-making to ecological processes such as photosynthesis, chlorotype introduces a slow temporality, a non-extractive relationship with matter, and an understanding of the image as an event. The findings show that, at this stage, children’s relationship with the visual is constructed through action, attention, and encounters with materials and processes, shaping perceptual dispositions prior to screen-based culture. The article thus expands the notion of visual literacy, proposing it as an embodied eco-aesthetic practice that articulates education, visuality, and ecology through experience.