Disclaimer! I’m still new to this, so this is my understanding at the moment. This will deepen as I read more and potentially change.
Photovoice or participatory photography as a term is often used interchangeably. They relate to a visual research method that is based on the principle that the research participants showcase their experience, culture and environment through the photographs they take. In a research project using participatory photography, participants take part in workshops.
In these workshops the participants are taught photography – how to use the digital cameras and explore how to frame, focus and highlight their lives and experience. They’ll also explore how images are used, often referred to as visual literacy. The research method is viewed as a way to give power to the individuals that are the subject of the research topic and give them a voice.
It was first used in public health research in the 1990s to showcase the experience of women living in rural China [I think some of the original work is in this book: Wu et al. (1995) and there is reference to their study in Wang and Burris (1997)]. Through the project the participants learnt a skill (photography) and they were able to present their lives and experiences in a way that couldn’t be captured in interviews or focus groups. The photographic exhibition showed what life was like through their eyes. It was a really powerful way of reaching decision-makers and the stakeholders of that community.
Since then participatory photography has been seen as a way of giving a voice to individuals who may have been overlooked – women, children, people living with homelessness. Rather than their thoughts and feelings being translated through a researcher, they are given a photographic voice to depict what they want to show people.
Photography has been used in many ways to showcase life and ideas. Rather than a professional selecting the shot that goes on a website. Participatory photography empowers individuals to choose what they want to showcase and to describe it in a way that is meaningful to them. Although participatory photography started as a research method in public health, it has now been used in multiple different disciplines and subject areas, including Library and Information Science. This opens up conversations away from a scripted interview that is directed from the researcher and allows the research participants to guide the conversation and decide the final outcome. The participants choose the photographs they want to showcase, and they choose how the images are described. It is their voice.
This is a new and exciting area for me to explore. There are so many ideas around this research method that I’ve barely scratched the surface. You’ll see this in my blog posts when I reflect on my reading. I’ll try and bring you the ideas and questions that occur to me as I’m reading about Photovoice and the wider subject of international students and their experiences here in the UK. No doubt you will see different ideas and thoughts as they occur to me. This is a work in progress that I will continue exploring, even after my fellowship ends.
Lessons Learnt
- Keep reading – there’s a lot to explore.
- I need to expand my vocabulary – I keep on writing about voices and showcasing. I’m also conscious I want to use the word ‘allow’ but that doesn’t feel right in this context. Everyone involved will be an adult so maybe encouraged will be a better word.
- Read more, I want to feel confident I know who said what in the world of participatory photography.
Useful links:
- PhotoVoice (UK organisation)
- Photovoice Worldwide (US based)
Photovoice was originally used in 1992 by Caroline C. Wang and Mary Ann Burris in rural China. I believe the reference below is to one of the outputs from the project:
Wu K, Burris M, Li V, Wang Y, Zhan W, Xian Y, Yang K, Wang C (eds.): Visual Voices: 100 Photographs of Village China by the Women of Yunnan Province. Yunnan, Yunnan People’s Publishing House, 1995.
I found this book chapter interesting (there’s a lot more I need to read): Wang, C. C. (2003). Using Photovoice as a participatory assessment and issue selection tool: A case study with the homeless in Ann Arbor. In M. Minkler & N. Wallerstein (Eds.), Community based participatory research for health (pp. 179–196). Hoboken, NJ, US: Jossey-Bass/Wiley.
Wang C, Burris MA. Photovoice: concept, methodology, and use for participatory needs assessment. Health Educ Behav. 1997 Jun;24(3):369-87. doi: 10.1177/109019819702400309. PMID: 9158980. Available open access here: https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/67790
On my “to read” list and interlibrary loans:
Wang C, Burris M, Xiang YP: Chinese village women as visual anthropologists: A participatory approach to reaching policymakers. Soc Sci Med 42(10):1391-1400, 1996.