Abstract
This chapter introduces photovoice methods as a dynamic approach to qualitative research in the Digital Humanities. With this method, photographs taken by participants to document their experiences are used both as data and as memory aids to prompt recollections during later interviews and focus groups, providing rich, narrative data. This chapter outlines how the photovoice method operates, offering practical advice for implementing this technique in research projects. We discuss both the strengths and weaknesses of this method, and explain our own research study on community engagement and service-learning to give readers a step-by-step guide to using photovoice in an informed and innovative way.
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Notes
- 1.
Caroline Wang and Mary Ann Burris, “Photovoice : Concept, Methodology, and Use for Participatory Needs Assessment,” Health Education & Behavior 24, no. 3 (1997): 369–387.
- 2.
See “Photovoice as a Participatory Health Promotion Strategy,” Health Promotion International 13, no. 1 (1998): 75–86; “Photovoice: A Participatory Action Research Strategy Applied to Women’s Health,” Journal of Women’s Health 8, no. 2 (1999): 185–192; “Who Knows the Streets as Well as the Homeless? Promoting Personal and Community Action Through Photovoice,” Health Promotion Practice 1, no. 1 (2000): 81–89; “Youth Participation in Photovoice as a Strategy for Community Change,” Journal of Community Practice 14, no. 1–2 (2006): 147–161; and many others.
- 3.
Caricia Catalani and Meredith Minkler, “Photovoice : A Review of the Literature in Health and Public Health,” Health Education & Behavior 37, no. 3 (2010): 424–451.
- 4.
Joyce P. Yi-Frazier, Katherine Cochrane, Connor Mitrovich, Michael Pascual, Emil Buscaino, Lauren Eaton, Neil Panlasigui, Bailey Clopp, and Faisal Malik, “Using Instagram as a Modified Application of Photovoice for Storytelling and Sharing in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes,” Qualitative Health Research 25, no. 10 (2015): 1372–1382.
- 5.
Alix Holtby, Kate Klein, Katie Cook, and Robb Travers, “To Be Seen or Not to Be Seen: Photovoice , Queer and Trans Youth, and the Dilemma of Representation,” Action Research 13, no. 4 (2015): 317–335.
- 6.
Caroline Fusco, Fiona Moola, Guy Faulkner, Ron Buliung, and Vanessa Richichi, “Toward an Understanding of Children’s Perceptions of Their Transport Geographies: (Non)active School Travel and Visual Representations of the Built Environment,” Journal of Transport Geography 20, no. 1 (2012): 62–70.
- 7.
Patricia Sullivan, “Participating with Pictures: Promises and Challenges of Using Images as a Technique in Technical Communication Research,” Journal of Technical Writing and Communication 47, no. 1 (2017): 86–108.
- 8.
Yi-Frazier et al., “Using Instagram as a Modified Application of Photovoice for Storytelling and Sharing in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes.”
- 9.
Using social media as the means through which participants store and share their photos would require careful consideration and cooperation with your university’s Institutional Review Board, the governing body at your university that oversees research on human beings.
- 10.
Caroline C. Wang, “Photovoice: A Participatory Action Research Strategy Applied to Women’s Health,” Journal of Women’s Health 8, no. 2 (1999): 185–192.
- 11.
Ellen Cushman, “Sustainable Service Learning Programs,” College Composition and Communication 54, no. 1 (2002): 40–65.
- 12.
Darrin Hodgetts, Kerry Chamberlain, and Alan Radley, “Photographs Never Taken During Photo-Production Projects,” Qualitative Research in Psychology 4, no. 4 (2007): 263–280.
- 13.
Heather Castleden and Theresa Garvin, “Modifying Photovoice for Community-Based Participatory Indigenous Research,” Social Science & Medicine 66, no. 6 (2008): 1393–1405.
- 14.
Caroline C. Wang and Yanique A. Redwood-Jones, “Photovoice Ethics: Perspectives from Flint Photovoice,” Health Education & Behavior 28, no. 5 (2001): 560–572.
References
Castleden, Heather, and Theresa Garvin. “Modifying Photovoice for Community-Based Participatory Indigenous Research.” Social Science & Medicine 66, no. 6 (2008): 1393–1405.
Catalani, Caricia, and Meredith Minkler. “Photovoice: A Review of the Literature in Health and Public Health.” Health Education & Behavior 37, no. 3 (2010): 424–451.
Fusco, Caroline, Fiona Moola, Guy Faulkner, Ron Buliung, and Vanessa Richichi. “Toward an Understanding of Children’s Perceptions of Their Transport Geographies: (Non)active School Travel and Visual Representations of the Built Environment.” Journal of Transport Geography 20, no. 1 (2012): 62–70.
Hodgetts, Darrin, Chamberlain, Kerry, and Alan Radley. “Photographs Never Taken During Photo-Production Projects.” Qualitative Research in Psychology 4, no. 4 (2007): 263–280.
Holtby, Alix, Kate Klein, Katie Cook, and Robb Travers. “To Be Seen or Not to Be Seen: Photovoice, Queer and Trans Youth, and the Dilemma of Representation.” Action Research 13, no. 4 (2015): 317–335.
Sullivan, Patricia. “Participating with Pictures: Promises and Challenges of Using Images as a Technique in Technical Communication Research.” Journal of Technical Writing and Communication 47, no. 1 (2017): 86–108.
Wang, Caroline C. “Photovoice as a Participatory Health Promotion Strategy.” Health Promotion International 13, no. 1 (1998): 75–86.
Wang, Caroline C. “Photovoice: A Participatory Action Research Strategy Applied to Women’s Health.” Journal of Women’s Health 8, no. 2 (1999): 185–192.
Wang, Caroline C. “Who Knows the Streets as Well as the Homeless? Promoting Personal and Community Action Through Photovoice.” Health Promotion Practice 1, no. 1 (2000): 81–89.
Wang, Caroline C. “Youth Participation in Photovoice as a Strategy for Community Change.” Journal of Community Practice 14, no. 1–2 (2006): 147–161.
Wang, Caroline, and Mary Ann Burris. “Photovoice: Concept, Methodology, and Use for Participatory Needs Assessment.” Health Education & Behavior 24, no. 3 (1997): 369–387.
Wang, Caroline C., and Yanique A. Redwood-Jones. “Photovoice Ethics: Perspectives from Flint Photovoice.” Health Education & Behavior 28, no. 5 (2001): 560–572.
Yi-Frazier, Joyce P., Katherine Cochrane, Connor Mitrovich, Michael Pascual, Emil Buscaino, Lauren Eaton, Neil Panlasigui, Bailey Clopp, and Faisal Malik. “Using Instagram as a Modified Application of Photovoice for Storytelling and Sharing in Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes.” Qualitative Health Research 25, no. 10 (2015): 1372–1382.
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Carlson, E.B., Overmyer, T. (2018). Smart Phones and Photovoice : Exploring Participant Lives with Photos of the Everyday. In: levenberg, l., Neilson, T., Rheams, D. (eds) Research Methods for the Digital Humanities. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96713-4_8
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