Pencils and Photos as Tools of Communicative Research and Praxis

Abstract

The present article analyzes the communication for social change activities of Minga Perú, a non-governmental organization in the Peruvian Amazon. Minga Perú broadcasts a popular radio program, Bienvenida Salud (Welcome Health), in the Amazonas, and carries out several community-based empowerment activities for local women. The authors’ data-collection procedures in the Peruvian Amazon included ordinary communicative tools, such as pencils and photographs. The respondents, comprising children and women, used these tools to ‘visually’ record their perceptions of Minga Perú contributions to reproductive health, gender equality and social change in the Peruvian Amazon. The authors argue that pencil sketches and photos represent important tools for communication research and praxis, providing an alternative to ‘textocentrism’ - the privileging of text, writing and the lettered word as a mode of comprehension and expression. However, in recognizing the value of visuals as an alternative mode of expression, the authors also point out that sketches, paintings and photographs are socially and technically constructed. That is, visual frames, by their very nature privilege the photographer’s point of view.