photovoice: seeing life as others see it

Over the past few years, being from a public health background, I have seen my fair share of participatory research techniques. I have mostly seen them in the context of health delivery satisfaction, whether through a water sanitation project in rural Ethiopia or a Needle Exchange program in downtown Toronto. The beauty of participatory methods was people were talking about what the projects meant to them, in their own language. Focus groups and mapping exercises prove invaluable in understanding how people see themselves and their interaction with their environment but developing new techniques for engaging the public with technology is essential.

 

Enter: Photovoice, a new kid on the block. The innovative idea of Caroline Wang and Mary Ann Burris it began as a mission to empower the women of Yunnan province in China. Photovoice was first developed in 1992 and has since matured into a participatory research methodology involving photography and digital storytelling so participants have the opportunity to represent themselves and create tools for positive social change.

 

The premise: Give people a camera and let them show you the way they see their neighbourhood. It has proven an invaluable resource for marginalized communities around the world, from urban street children in India to the homeless population in Ann Arbor Michigan. It works to help increase awareness in many situations but also highlights areas for improvement and deficits in health services. The methodology works particularly well as a participatory needs assessments for health promotion programs. By providing marginalized communities with the resources to describe their situation in their own words, Photovoice can enable communities to begin discussing change and create an understanding about the problems affecting them. In turn these pictures can be valuable in advocating to policymakers about real change.

 

Truly understanding the situation many marginalized populations face is a difficult thing to genuinely do. Photovoice provides a unique perspective on not only providing skills training but a project where communities can create their own advocacy tools and work to set their own priorities.