Uhkakuvissa

Uhkakuvissa is a Finnish term used in media studies and visual culture to describe images that encode or evoke threat, danger, or risk. The word combines uhka ("threat") and kuva ("image") with the inessive suffix -ssa, yielding roughly “in threat images.” The plural form is uhkakuvissa, used to refer to multiple such images, while singular forms include uhkakuva or uhkakuvassa. The term appears in Finnish-language discourse on visual rhetoric and risk communication.

In practice, uhkakuvissa is applied to analyze how photographs, illustrations, posters, and moving images convey a sense of danger and urgency. It is commonly invoked in discussions of journalism, public safety campaigns, advertising, and film or television, where threat imagery may frame a subject, influence audience emotions, or legitimize action.

Typical features of images described as being “uhkakuvissa” include stark lighting and color contrasts (often red or orange), imposing or looming figures, weaponry or hazards depicted at close range, and gaze or perspective that elicits viewer unease. The concept also covers compositional choices that heighten perceived immediacy, such as cropped framing, motion blur, or explicit narratives of danger.

Scholars note both the communicative value and ethical concerns of threat imagery: such images can efficiently signal risk but may also sensationalize, stereotype, or distress audiences. The term remains a tool for descriptive analysis rather than a prescriptive guideline. See also: visual rhetoric, risk communication, warning pictograms, threat imagery.