The Reflections on Water

Visualizing Human-Riverine Interaction

Abstract

Human relationships with rivers are complex, defined by both environmental change and human activity. GIS provides a good way of analyzing, integrating and presenting such complexity over a long period of time, but does it really? This paper discusses limitations of traditional representations and explores how artistic influence and different audio-visual traditions might contribute to the interpretation of  human- riverine encounters. Could such contributions enhance integration of both environmental and humanistic perspectives, represent complexity better, increasing the value of these studies for society today and possibly the future?