Lessons from photoelicitation: encouraging working men to speak

Natasha Slutskaya,Jason Hughes,Alexander Simpson,Jane Davison

doi:10.1108/17465641211223447

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the possibilities of incorporating such visual methods as photoelicitation and photovoice into qualitative research, in order to retrieve something that, as a result of particular group socialisation, has been hidden, unspoken of or marginalised.Design/methodology/approachThe research design combines 40 in‐depth verbal interviews with male butchers, with the use of photoelicitation and photovoice, in order to increase participant control of data generation.FindingsResults suggest that photoelicitation enabled working‐class men to engage with themes which are rarely reflected on or discussed; which may sit uneasily with desired presentations of self; and which challenge traditional notions of gendered work. It prompted participants to elaborate and translate their daily experiences of physical labour into more expressive and detailed accounts. This provided room for the display of positive emotions and self‐evaluation and the surfacing of the aesthetics and the pleasures of the trade – aspects that might have been otherwise concealed as a result of adherence to identity affirming norms. Photoelicitation also evoked powerful nostalgic themes about the past: a lament for the loss of skills; the passing of the time of closer communities and more traditional values.Originality/valueThe use of photovoice and photoelicitation in the exploration of a class and gendered “habitus” has highlighted the power of visual methods to offer a closer look at what participants considered important, to open space for the emergence of unexpected topics and themes and to allow for more comprehensive and reflective elaboration on specificities of personal experiences and emotions.

Highlights

This paper sets out to explore how photoelicitation can facilitate the production of data in the context of researched groups whose members might lack the competency and confidence to recount their experiences
Does contemporary culture demonstrate our reliance on images to comprehend the world and ourselves, our dependence upon images is testament to an ongoing struggle and frequent frustration with the arbitrariness, constraints and limitations of any available linguistic forms
In this article we draw on a recent research project on working class men doing ‘dirty work’ (Ashforth and Kreiner, 1999) to highlight how autophotography and photoelicitation can surface hidden meanings and experiences

Summary

Introduction

This paper sets out to explore how photoelicitation can facilitate the production of data in the context of researched groups whose members might lack the competency and confidence to recount their experiences. They refer in particular to research that has, through photovoice, helped surface meanings and experiences that might otherwise be hidden or silenced such as conceptualisations of safety among battered women (Frohmann, 2005), the impact of children’s chronic illness on mothers and families (Hagedorn, 1990) and girls’ sense of a gendered self (Bloustein and Baker, 2003) This project has ee incorporated both strategies, firstly, by providing participants with the opportunity to highlight their experiences and to voice their concerns through the images taken by them personally and, secondly, later by using created images to elicit thoughts and discussion points that could not have been otherwise revealed

Research project

Elaborating physicality

Revealing the Aesthetics of Meat

Discussion and Conclusion