Photovoice is a qualitative method used in community-based participatory research to gather information.Darrah L Goo Kuratani & Elaine Lai (2011). "TEAM Lab - Photovoice Literature Review"
/ref> Photovoice uses participant

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

to guide interviews, and is commonly used in the fields of

community development The United Nations defines community development as "a process where community members come together to take collective action and generate solutions to common problems." It is a broad concept, applied to the practices of civic leaders, activists ...

international development International development or global development is a broad concept denoting the idea that societies and countries have differing levels of economic or human development on an international scale. It is the basis for international classifications ...

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

, and

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

. Generally, photovoice participants attend basic photography training and then take photographs to respond to a prompt. Photos taken by participants are then used as reference material to guide a formal interview. One advantage of photovoice is that, unlike traditional interviews, it does not rely on verbal communication alone. Since photovoice enables participants to respond to an interview question non-verbally, with photographs, it can be used to overcome social, cultural and linguistic barriers to verbal communication. As a result, photovoice can be implemented with participants regardless of age, education level, language, gender, race, class, disability, etc. Photovoice can be used to gather new insights and perspectives that can raise awareness of hidden or overlooked issues and aspects of a given community. Participants are asked to express their points of view or represent their communities by photographing scenes that highlight research themes. Common research themes include community concerns, community assets, social issues, and public health barriers. These photographs are collaboratively interpreted through discussions in both small and large groups, and narratives can be developed that explain how the photos highlight a particular research theme. These narratives are then used to promote dialogue to mobilize and help policymakers better understand and change the community, thereby developing effective solutions and programs that address the issues and needs.

Background

Photovoice was developed in 1992 by Caroline C. Wang of the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, and Mary Ann Burris, Program Officer for Women's Health at the Ford Foundation headquartered in Beijing, China. The idea was built on the foundation that images and words together can effectively express community and individual needs, problems, and desires. In addition, photovoice was strongly influenced by

documentary photography Documentary photography usually refers to a popular form of photography used to chronicle events or environments both significant and relevant to history and historical events as well as everyday life. It is typically undertaken as professional pho ...

, the concept of

empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...

feminist theory Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, fictional, or philosophical discourse. It aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines women's and men's social roles, experiences, interests, chores, and feminist ...

, and

Paulo Freire Paulo Reglus Neves Freire (19 September 1921 – 2 May 1997) was a Brazilian educator and philosopher who was a leading advocate of critical pedagogy. His influential work ''Pedagogy of the Oppressed'' is generally considered one of the foundat ...

Pedagogy of the Oppressed ''Pedagogy of the Oppressed'' ( pt, Pedagogia do Oprimido) is a book by Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, written in Portuguese between 1967–68, but published first in Spanish in 1968. An English translation was published in 1970, with the Por ...

to promote health education and his idea of

critical consciousness Critical consciousness, conscientization, or in Portuguese, is a popular education and social concept developed by Brazilian pedagogue and educational theorist Paulo Freire, grounded in post-Marxist critical theory. Critical consciousness focuses ...

. Photovoice was first used to empower the silenced rural women in Yunnan Province, China, to influence the policies and programs affecting them. Since then, the method has been used in different settings and populations, such as by refugees in San Diego seeking in–person medical interpretation options, by homeless adults in

Ann Arbor Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna (name), Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah (given name), Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie (given name), ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

, by Dr. Claudia Mitchell to support community health workers and teachers in rural

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, and by Dr. Laura S. Lorenz of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University in her work with brain injury survivors.Lorenz, LS (2010) "Brain Injury Survivors: Narratives of Rehabilitation and Healing." Disability in Society, Ronald J. Berger, Series Editor. Boulder, CO and London: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc.

Modern implementation

In the 21st century, some university professors have used the photovoice model to teach social work students. In addition, it has been used as a tool to engage children and youth, giving them a safe environment and opportunity to communicate their concerns and coping strategies to policymakers and service providers. In other words, photovoice is used at all levels as a tool for self-development, sharing awareness, advocacy, research, needs assessment, monitoring, etc. So the use of photovoice allows one to capture and widen their perspective on all levels of various issues.

Variants

Also known as "participatory photography" or "photo novella", photovoice is considered a sub–type of " participatory visual methods" or picturevoice which includes techniques such as photo-elicitation and digital storytelling. These techniques allow research participants to create visuals that capture their individual perspectives as part of the research process."Picturevoice: Health Communication Through Art." Presentation. Society for Public Health Education 60th Annual Meeting. Philadelphia, PA. November 6, 2009.Lorenz, LS and B Kolb (2009). Involving the public through participatory visual research methods. Health Expectations, Volume 12, Issue 3, pp 262-274. An example of this is found in Project Lives, a participatory photography project used to create a new image of project housing dwellers, published in April 2015. Two other forms of picturevoice include paintvoice, stemming from the work of Michael Yonas, and comicvoice, which has been pioneered by John Baird's ''

Create a Comic Project The Create a Comic Project (CCP) is a youth literacy program and webcomic created by John Baird. The program uses comics, many taken from the Internet, to encourage children to write their own narratives.Diwan, Faizan. "Kids can learn through co ...

'' since 2008, and to a lesser extent by Michael Bitz's '' Comic Book Project''."Healthy Holidays: Lessons Learned from a Community Education Event." Presentation. American Public Health Association 137th Annual Meeting. Philadelphia, PA. November 11, 2009."Comicvoice: Community education through sequential art." Pop Culture Association - American Culture Association, St. Louis, MO. (2010)

International development

In international research, photovoice has been seen to allow participants from the developing world to define how they want to be represented to the international community. The individuals are facilitated and given control to tell their stories and perspectives which empower them to be engaged and maintain a firm sense of authorship over their representations. This helps to convey a stereotype-free picture of what it means to live in a

developing country A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

to those supporting (i.e. funders and voters of the

developed country A developed country (or industrialized country, high-income country, more economically developed country (MEDC), advanced country) is a sovereign state that has a high quality of life, developed economy and advanced technological infrastruct ...

) and doing international development (i.e.

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

and

government agencies A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an administratio ...

).Skovdal, M., Cornish, F., (2015) "Qualitative Research for Development: A guide for practitioners" Rugby, UK: Practical Action Publishing (Chapter 6 - Photovoice: Methodology and Use) In addition, photovoice allows the community to monitor the impact of the change created by development programs. This can help inform the outside agency about the process, true impacts (what is/isn't working and why), and complex reality, thus accompany wider and deeper research and analysis to improve the development progress.

References

{{reflist

External links

PhotoVoice - The UK based charity that uses ethical photography to promote positive social change

PhotovoiceWorldwide.com
– information about photovoice projects and workshops coordinated by

Brandeis Brandeis is a surname. People *Antonietta Brandeis (1848–1926), Czech-born Italian painter *Brandeis Marshall, American data scientist * Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, Austrian artist and Holocaust victim * Irma Brandeis, American Dante scholar * Loui ...

faculty member Laura Lorenz Community development Educational research Pedagogy Photography by genre Social research