Photovoice in Action
How has this technique been used elsewhere?
Photovoice has been used as a technique to encourage community dialogue. To drive
conversations about education, employment and to highlight underrepresented voices.
You can visit the Photovoice website to learn more. Some projects are detailed below:
In rural West Virginia, forty women were given a camera and two rolls of film per
month for a year to document their unique way of life. These “photostories” were used
to influence policy, increase voter turnout, and change the existing narrative on
rural WV.
Photo/Videovoice was used in post-Katrina New Orleans, Louisiana to better understand
the needs of the community and address inequalities surrounding culture, education,
income inequality, and access to public health
Newfoundland fishery closures have caused intergenerational uncertainties which have
been highlighted through photovoice. The new workforce is drastically different that
before the fishery closures and this project highlights the youth perspective on work
in Newfoundland.
Photovoice projects that highlight underrepresented voices have seen success in communities
such as Moncton, New Brunswick where researchers sought out women to highlight their
barriers to empowerment and the effect it has on their lives. Photovoice gave these
women a voice and they were able to highlight their concerns about their community
and enact change.
North Carolina used photovoice to highlight the voices of undocumented DACA youth
and the barriers that their documentation status places on their access to higher
education. This project has been used to highlight the need for universality in DACA
policies and the hardships it brings to youth recipients and their access to higher
education.
