Photovoice Project Research Articles

Undocumented migrant workers as activist citizens: resisting citizenship exclusion through photovoice

ABSTRACT This article discusses the foregrounding of migrant activism through a photovoice project that emerged organically from groups of undocumented South Asian migrant men in Greece. It argues that this collective creative action against the criminalization of migrant ‘illegality’ constitutes an active act of citizenship that contests, from below, exclusionary citizenship rights and formal modes of inclusion into the body politic of a nation state. Isin’s concept of ‘activist citizen’ (2008) allows us to interpret migrant participation as a creative political mobilization that challenged their formal citizenship exclusion. The act of becoming intentionally visible through photo-taking and the multimedia installation allowed them to undertake constructive resistance against their forced invisibility and migrant abjectness. By representing themselves as empowered activist-citizens, and by using their photos, videos, and texts as evidentiary material, the undocumented migrant workers sought to destabilize dominant imaginaries and discourses that present them as fearful, deviant masculine others.

The ABCs of mental health at the university: a multi-level intervention design for promoting mental well-being.

There is an escalating concern for the mental health of university students being recognized as a high-risk group for psychological distress. Despite research emphasizing the need to integrate mental well-being into higher education, existing interventions primarily focus on challenges and support services, leaving a gap in practical insights for promoting mental well-being at the university as a whole. This paper aims to cover the theoretical and methodological foundations for the design and development of a complex multi-level intervention called the ABCs of mental health at the university (ABC-uni). Following the MRC framework for complex interventions, the design and development of a novel complex intervention is described (Phase I). Using the socio-ecological model and incorporating principles from health promotion charters, capacity building, organizational change models, and the principles of the ABCs of mental health a program theory for mental health promotion at the university is proposed. Following this theoretical foundation a logic model outlines the ABC-uni intervention components at structural, community, and individual levels. The components include staff training, campaign materials, a photovoice project, integration of mental well-being literacy into introductory programs, a credit-bearing course, and an online module. Preferably, most of these components are developed and carried out collaboratively with students at the university. As proposed in the logic model expected outcomes encompass heightened awareness, supportive environments, commitment, and accountability, aiming to enhance mental well-being across the entire university. The design and development of the intervention components occur at a Danish public university. This section addresses the strengths and limitations of the design of the ABC-uni intervention. Future research will cover the feasibility phase of each components of the ABC-uni intervention (phase II). The conceptual framework and program theory outlining mental health promotion at the university, along with the detailed description of the intervention components, provides valuable insights for fostering mental well-being in the university community.

Photovoice and community-based fieldwork of preservice geography teachers: a photovoice project exploring stakeholders’ positions on social and spatial issues

This study examines methods/measures by which instructors can understand students’ experiences and empirical achievements using photovoice. The participants in this study are preservice geography who took the “Geographical Fieldwork 2” course. During the semester course, a photovoice project to investigate the conflicts among stakeholders around the university over the construction of a mosque was conducted by participants. Thus, participants individualized geographical concepts and topics learned in the classroom (for example, discrimination and stereotypes, inclusion and exclusion, land price and redevelopment, racism, difference and diversity, and global citizenship and multicultural citizenship.) in an effective way using the photovoice project in their residents. The participants’ experiences assimilated or accommodated their schema. Thus, this study identified four positive benefits of using photovoice as a measure for geographical fieldwork.

The Photovoice Project: Fostering Students' Autonomous, Collaborative, and Authentic Business/Engineering English Learning Experiences

This perspective article elaborates an instructional approach to business English learning utilizing a photovoice project as a strategy to promote a real-world learning encounter. In professional and vocational colleges, project-based learning (PBL) is an instructional strategy for promoting autonomous, collaborative, and authentic learning nuances. This article sheds light on how photovoice project fosters the students’ technical and business English learning experiences. The project empowers students to take charge of their learning, work collaboratively, and engage in real-world business context. This paper presents the concept of photovoice, learners’ autonomy and collaboration towards photovoice, authentic business English learning encounters, technology-integrated photovoice, project evaluation, and case studies on photovoice project. On top of that, language teachers can utilize project-based photovoice as a valuable tool for promoting innovative and engaging business English learning activities, thus providing students with contextual-based learning environment and preparing them for the real business world. It also brings several implications: 1) for vocational English teachers, implementing photovoice projects offers a powerful tool to create innovative and engaging learning activities, 2) for students, these projects provide a contextualized learning environment that prepares them for the real business world by developing practical language skills and industry-specific knowledge, and institutions will benefit by fostering an educational approach that bridges classroom learning with real-world applications, thereby enhancing the overall quality and relevance of their programs.

Perspectives of Women With Osteoporosis or Osteopenia Regarding Physical Occupations That Support or Limit Health & Well-Being: A Photovoice Project

Abstract Date Presented 03/23/24 There is currently a lack of qualitative research on women with osteoporosis. This research project will gain perspectives from women with osteoporosis or osteopenia regarding the physical occupations that support or limit their health and well-being. Primary Author and Speaker: Nikki Kathryn Staffen Contributing Authors: Julie Bass

Photovoice Project for a Family and Societal Nursing Course.

Aesthetic knowing requires an understanding of human experience while personal knowing requires self-reflection and awareness. Photovoice and arts-based learning utilizes different forms of art to elicit abstract and critical thinking and reflection skills in students. A photovoice project was assigned to first-semester nursing students to think about and reflect on human experiences of patients, families, and themselves in the nursing role. Items on a course evaluation gauged how students felt the project contributed to their learning. Many students appreciated the different approach to learning and liked the chance to be creative. The project also required students to review the contents of the course for a final presentation. The photovoice project contributes to the development of aesthetic and personal ways of knowing and helps students meet course objectives. The photovoice project is an effective and innovative way to develop aesthetic and personal knowing in nursing students. [J Nurs Educ. 2024;63(X):XXX-XXX.].

A Participatory Evaluation of an Urban Garden Project in Ecuador: Exploring Factors That Impact the Recovery of People With Severe Mental Health Problems.

For the past years, Ecuador has been transitioning away from a hospital-based model of mental healthcare to one that is community-centred. However, challenges associated with hospital-based models endure, notably financial burden faced by those with severe mental health problems (SMHPs) due to labour market discrimination. Employment access for this group is often disregarded in policy planning, despite evidence of its benefits on mental health. Huertomanías, an urban garden initiative in Ecuador founded in 2015, works with individuals with SMHPs, providing work, income, and social inclusion. A case study using a participatory approach was carried out to explore factors that impact the recovery of people with SMHPs. Twelve participants engaged in diverse stages of the research, where several participatory activities were conducted including cognitive mapping, a photovoice project, and interviews. The analysis employed a thematic approach leading to four categories of impact within the urban garden: autonomy (financial and personal), interpersonal relations and relation with the environment, mental health, and family dynamics. A final category of impact was established encompassing external factors (family support and public policy and healthcare services) that influence recovery. Findings suggest that the urban garden promotes autonomy and active participation within society, improves mental health, and transforms family dynamics. Further, this study highlights the importance of community-based mental healthcare (CBMHC), emphasising the need of public policies and healthcare in promoting autonomy through employment and community-centred services. Lastly, the study contributes insights into recovery experiences and CBMHC benefits, informing programme development and similar initiatives in Latin America.

Liminal logic: Peacebuilding and photovoice in Jerusalem

Photography and other visual methods have become invaluable tools in peacebuilding and urban studies, enabling citizens to explore their circumstances and voice grievances. These methods provide insights into spatial dynamics, aesthetics, and identity, crucial for understanding individual perspectives. While their role in capturing urban liminality is acknowledged, further investigation is needed, especially in contested cities affected by ongoing conflicts. In such cities, visual methods can offer significant insights into liminal spaces, narratives, and logic, shedding light on urban geopolitics. Focusing on Jerusalem as a case study, this research explores how visual methods, particularly photovoice, illuminate the liminal aspects of urban geopolitics. Through a comparative analysis of focus groups (Israelis, Palestinians, and bi-national) within a photovoice project, the research uncovers the complex nature of liminal logic, especially how city residents integrate and balance various rationalities such as urban and national, gender and religion, age and profession. However, the analysis also reveals constraints on applying liminal logic and potential change among disadvantaged groups, particularly Palestinians, highlighting the need for future examination.

Refugee youth’s perspective on the role that food insecurity plays in a healthy community: a photovoice project

PurposeFood insecurity is a major public health concern, especially for refugee families. Despite the growing population of refugee families in the USA and the harmful effects on youth’s health and well-being, there are limited qualitative studies exploring food insecurity among US refugee adolescents. The use of community-based participatory research and photovoice can highlight the strength of gathering and sharing underrepresented and disadvantaged group experiences. The purpose of this study was to understand adolescent refugee's food insecurity perspectives and experiences, with a nutrition and food access focus. Three main themes and nine subthemes emerged around the role that food security plays in a healthy, thriving community. The main themes included food must be more accessible in school; importance of food access in one’s community; and food access and creating a vibrant community. Implications regarding how to apply these results with community and school-based food programs are discussed.Design/methodology/approachThis study followed a phenomenological research approach to understand the experiences of refugee youth and what constitutes healthy food access in a community. Data analysis was conducted using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis to ensure that data saturation was met (Guest et al., 2006).FindingsThe thematic analysis of the photovoice methodological approach revealed three main themes and nine subthemes around the role that food security plays in a healthy and thriving community. These themes are as follows: food must be more accessible in school; importance of food access in one’s community; and food access and creating a vibrant community.Research limitations/implicationsFunding resources limited the duration of meeting in which we could meet and discuss the photo’s students were taking. Second, consistent with phenomenological studies, the sample size was small. However, common sample size for studies using a phenomenological approach ranged from 5 to 25 (Creswell et al., 2007), which is in alignment with this study. Next, while participants did receive training in the SHOWeD method, the photography training was limited to only one hour. Despite the limited training, participants felt they had sufficient knowledge and skills to take the necessary pictures.Practical implicationsThis study provides important policy implications for school-based food programs, such as food pantries and free or reduced school meals, and how it plays an important role in refugee youth’s well-being and education. Based on feedback from the study participants, many school-based food programs were considered not available or easily accessible, and that youth and their families were often unaware of programs available to them. This study revealed the important role schools can play in ensuring food security among refugee youth and their families as well as for refugee youth to reach their full potential equitably.Originality/valueThis study used a creative research approach that integrates photovoice as a means to elevate the voices of a marginalized populations. This approach has been identified as one of the most culturally appropriate method when working with refugee children and youth (Pieloch et al., 2016). Second, the study included having multiple meetings, that recruited from previously established partnerships. This form of community building and activism elevates participants voices (Catalani and Minkler, 2009). Finally, this study used a cycle of photography and discussion and held a final public photo exhibition for both the participant’s community and its influential leaders (Catalani and Minkler, 2009; Evans-Agnew and Rosemberg, 2016). The results of this study have important policy implications for schools and communities.

Community in times of COVID: building resilience in a self-help neighborhood in Medellin

ABSTRACT This article looks at resilience-building in Moravia, an inner-urban, self-help neighborhood constructed on and around the former principal landfill of Medellin, Colombia. Based on a photovoice project carried out with a group of children and youth in 2019, an image is presented of social cohesion within the neighborhood. Moravia's case shows that social cohesion in the neighborhood fosters three concrete forms of resilience-building: (1) maintaining networks of aid and care, (2) cultivating a sense of neighborhood identity, and (3) engaging in direct and indirect forms of reciprocity. Data from digital ethnography obtained in 2021 demonstrate that these resilience-building practices were maintained online during quarantine. This article contributes to the literature on social cohesion, first, by departing from children and youth views of community dynamics in their neighborhood and, second, by connecting social cohesion to resilience-building in the context of an auto-constructed, underprivileged neighborhood in Latin America and the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, it contributes to the literature on the photovoice methodology and the expanding work on digital ethnography, respectively by showing the efficacy of photovoice when researching community-related themes with children and youth, and investigating neighborhood-based Facebook groups as a space for enhancing social cohesion and resilience in times of crisis.

Exploring first-generation student experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and its influence on their social isolation: a photovoice project

Objective The purpose of this study was to use photovoice to explore first-generation student experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and its influence on their social isolation, as well as what contributed to or alleviated their social isolation. Participants Nine undergraduate students who identified as first-generation and who experienced feeling socially isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic were included in this study. Methods In this study, participants were recruited via purposive sampling. Moreover, semi-structured interviews that incorporated the SHOWed technique were conducted with participants. In addition, First & Second Cycle Coding was used to help analyze participant interviews. Results A total of 11 themes emerged from this study that depicted their experience of feeling isolated, as well as what contributed to and alleviated their isolation. Conclusions This study highlights the importance of capturing first-generation students’ experiences to help lessen the influence of social isolation among this group and ensure their academic success.

Co-Creando Rituales / Co-Creating Rituals to Hold Our Work as Anti-Oppressive Counselors and Researchers

Counselors and qualitative researchers have the honor of hearing peoples’ stories and thus have a great responsibility to explore and use clinical and research methodologies that are anti-oppressive, liberatory, and healing. Therefore, in 2019 we began a photovoice project alongside seven queer womxn of color (QWoC) that collaboratively explored their experiences of microaggressions in counseling. Through this journey, we recognized that to be fully present with the “co-researchers’” (participants’) narratives and experiences, we needed to remain attuned and grounded. We engaged in what we now call “rituals” before research team meetings to support our work as counselors and anti-oppressive researchers throughout this photovoice project. These intentional, emotional, embodied, and spiritual practices allowed us to be open with ourselves and with the co-researchers during the research process. In this article, we discuss several rituals we created that helped us engage in critical reflexivity, [un]learn extractive research practices, and explore our intentions, thus allowing us to connect with our embodied experiences and co-researchers’ narratives in a deeper and more meaningful way.

Facilitating leadership exploration in MSW students through community-based participatory photovoice project

ABSTRACT While a wealth of conceptual literature attempts to describe the relationship between leadership and social work, there is a dearth of empirical research on teaching leadership skills to emerging social workers. This qualitative study focuses on the impact of using a community-based participatory project—photovoice—as a method to teach specialized community practice in graduate social work education. The study participants consist of masters of social work students at a Hispanic Serving Institution based in the southwestern region of the United States of America. The data sources of the study are reflection papers that students wrote after completing a photovoice project as part of the course requirement. We sought to understand what students learned from implementing and evaluating a photovoice project. Through inductive thematic analysis, findings show that students gained experiences with professional leadership and management skills. The team constructed two themes that capture the essence of what students learned: (i) navigating leadership qualities and (ii) deconstructing preconceptions of leadership.

Working as facilitators and co-researchers: opportunities, tensions and complexities in educational participatory research

ABSTRACT In this paper, we transcend the boundaries of conventional academic writing and embrace the African philosophical concept of conversationalism to create an honest and decolonial space, albeit imperfect, in which we can talk about the messiness of participatory research. Engaging in a dialectical conversation with each other, we share our reflections on and respond to four lines of questioning related to: onto-epistemology; axiology; methodology; and temporality within participatory research. As we converse, we draw on lessons learnt from three different photovoice projects that involved working with marginalized youth or within marginalized neighborhoods and communities. As co-researchers and authors located across the Global South and North (two of us working in South Africa and the other two in the UK), we draw on our photovoice experiences to discuss the complexities and negotiations inherent in educational participatory projects. By doing so, we contribute to debates surrounding the unfulfilled promises of photovoice projects, whilst acknowledging the fluid spaces it creates for intercultural, more inclusive meaning-making. Our dialectic conversation shows that, despite being fraught with ideological tensions that are amplified by the fundamentally diverse and morally plural world we live and research in, photovoice projects can be worthwhile if we are critically reflexive before, during and long after the research is done.

Forced migration, resettlement, and sport: Lessons from the Kabul-Edmonton soccer team.

Forced migration is one of the most pressing crises of our lifetime. Of the millions forced to migrate, many come to know the brutality of state-managed migration that habitually denies asylum seekers and places substantive restrictions on refugees who have been resettled. Sociologists of sport and leisure have examined the sporting experiences of refugees through an intersectional lens, foregrounding how displacement and resettlement are differently lived and negotiated across overlapping power structures and markers of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, and legal status. Through a participatory and collective photovoice project, this article explores the experiences of an all-Afghan soccer team that played in a social, co-ed soccer league in the spring of 2022, just after they arrived in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. In photovoice narratives and subsequent interviews, team members underlined many of the barriers they faced as they navigated the formal and informal rules and dominant norms of this seemingly inclusive sports landscape. In doing so, they revealed some of the limits of official discourses of Canadian multiculturism, which rarely accommodate more significant forms of difference, and which reproduce racial and ethnic hierarchies that powerfully discipline newcomers who are encouraged to embrace their precarious status as model minorities.

Art, science, and life: where arts-based research and social-ecological transformation can meet

Arts-based research offers an innovative approach to today’s social-ecological challenges. Many authors ascertain the transformative power of arts-based research lies in its ability to generate holistic and collaborative encounters which facilitate change. To advance critical discussions around arts-based research, the following article opens up pockets of success as well as the limitations and failures of the My Mabopane photovoice project. This project intended to support urban transformation in the City of Tshwane, South Africa, by asking participants to photograph and reflect upon a nearby green space afflicted with various social and environmental challenges. Results suggest alternative ways of knowing, which contribute to transformative learning, can link arts-based research to social-ecological transformation. However, despite this promising pathway, analyses also reveal realizing social-ecological transformation with arts-based research is no walk in the park. Rather problematic assumptions around knowledge and knowledge production, emerging in tensions between art and science, often trump the emancipatory intentions of photovoice. And broader structural challenges, that arts-based research situates itself in and against, pose a strong barrier for social-ecological transformation. In response to these barriers, this article argues for a collaborative arts-based research practice centering community realities on multiple scales via a merging of art, science, and life.

Storytelling in precarious landscapes: Insights from a photovoice project in rural Appalachia

The impacts of the coronavirus pandemic in the small central Appalachian town of Rainelle, West Virginia cannot be understood separately from the broader human-environment relationships of this place. These relationships are grounded in landscapes that hold tremendous natural beauty alongside the scars of coal and timber extraction, and which now face increased risk of flooding because of the changing climate those extractive industries helped create. Too often, stories of this place lack attention to this complexity because they do not account for the perspective and knowledge of the people who live and make their livelihoods there. This paper details findings from a photovoice project in Rainelle that captured life in the small town in Fall 2020, through the lenses of nine town residents. Their photos tell a story not just of the height of the pandemic in rural America, but also of what happened when the pandemic intersected with ongoing efforts to recover from a devastating flood in 2016 and decades of socio-economic hardship before that. The results show that photovoice is an effective method by which political ecologists can facilitate the telling of stories by and with research participants, while also offering insights for how we might envision more just climate futures with people not typically part of conversations about climate change, such as those from the precarious landscapes of rural Appalachia.

포토보이스를 활용한 신규가정과교사의 경험 탐색

The purposes of this study are to obtain an in-depth understanding of the experiences of novice Home Economics teachers during their first year and to extract meaning from the experiences. The Photovoice was used as a research methodology. Participants in the study included three novice Home Economics teachers who passed the 2022 secondary school teacher recruitment examination and began working at middle schools in the Seoul metropolitan area from March 2022. Data were collected from February 2022 to January 2023, involving one written interview, nine monthly Photovoice projects, and two Focus Group Interviews. Thematic analysis was utilized for data analysis. The narratives of novice Home Economics teachers were divided into the narratives as ‘Home Economics teacher’ and as ‘Novice teacher’. As being Home Economics teachers, participants constructed their narratives around three themes: ‘Home Economics is a practical discipline’, ‘Home economics teachers are agents of change’, and ‘Home Economics is undervalued in the school.’ Furthermore, the sub themes of the ‘novice teachers’ narrative included ‘Now it's the real beginning’, ‘Teaching is a wonderful profession’, and ‘I will become a good teacher.’ The significance of this study lies in the in-depth exploration of the lived experiences of novice Home Economics teachers during their first year and broadening the use of Photovoice as a research and teaching strategy.

The triality of roles for the trilingual researcher: Processes from a community-engaged qualitative cross-language health study

There are numerous ethical and procedural challenges when conducting cross-language research, and there is a need to discuss the role of multilingual researchers, as much of the existing literature focuses on working with third-party interpreters or translators. In this article, we expand the recommendations for cross-language research for multilingual researchers and health studies, through an examination of literature and processes from a Community-Engaged Qualitative Photovoice project. We present adapted cross-language research methods for future cross-language research studies. These adapted methods include seven considerations: (i) What and why? Considerations for Study Design, (ii) When do we translate, and how many times? Question development, pilot testing, transcription, and translation, (iii) Who? The role of the translator/interpreter during the research process, (iv) Who again? Translator/interpreter credentials, (v) What are you really saying? Dynamic equivalence, (vi) Do your ears deceive you? Reflexive reflective reflexivity, and (vii) Triality, not just Duality, of the role of the Researcher.

"You Need To Let Go of Control”: Critical Reflections of a Participatory Action Research Doctoral Project with Muslim Women in Britain

This article explores the ethical and practical complexities of conducting participatory action research (PAR) as a doctoral student and shares findings from a doctoral study co-developed with Muslim women living in Britain to promote social change. Through the development of a visual methods (Photovoice) project, 16 Muslim women collaborated to document new understandings of what Muslim womanhood, religious agency, and empowerment mean to them, within the broader context of gendered Islamophobia. The findings reveal the complexities of establishing an equal partnership, and negotiating power dynamics, trust, ownership, and group conflict in PAR, which problematises assumptions around community empowerment within participatory approaches. The article concludes with critical reflections captured during the project, which advances understandings of how diverse Muslim women respond to PAR within the British context.