The National Geographic Magazine photographic essay on the Canadian oil sands presents an excellent case study of how environmental risk is communicated visually. The images express an inherent tension between nature-as-sublime and nature-as-resource, and mobilize various discourses related to environmental degradation and resource management. Through a specifically visual approach to the communication of risk, this article provides theoretical insight into how risk is perceived differently within various social contexts and concludes that the visual communication of risk may not substantially raise levels of public engagement and initiative.