Revisiting the Roots and Aims of Photovoice

Abstract

Since its introduction, photovoice has been implemented in numerous fields with a wide array of outcomes of interest, but has the method been implemented in a way that is consistent with its initial aims in mind? From Caroline Wang and Mary Ann Burris’s initial 1994 project, photovoice has demonstrated power to harness visual imagery and stories within a participatory empowerment process and established a new tool for the profession for understanding community members’ lived experience and needs, raising the critical consciousness of communities, and advocating for actions leading to social change. Based in Freirean philosophy, feminist theory, and documentary photography, photovoice engages community members to identify, represent, and change their community by means of photography, dialogue, and action. Public health can benefit when researchers and practitioners more carefully conceptualize the intended aims of each photovoice effort. The purpose of this article is to consider the varied applications of photovoice and propose a classification system that encapsulates its wide-ranging aims. Close examination of foundational literature and previous applications of photovoice suggest the following categories for framing the application of the method; specifically, photovoice for (a) photovention, (b) community assessment, (c) community capacity building, and (d) advocacy for change. Full implementations of photovoice have the capacity to illuminate complex real-world issues leading to advocacy for policy, systems, and environmental change. It is our hope that the proposed framing clarifies the language used to discuss photovoice and its outcomes, distinguishes its various uses and stated aims, and maximizes its impact in future applications.

Keywords

advocacy social determinants of health social policy environmental and systems change community intervention health promotion health education community-based participatory research health research qualitative research community assessment program planning and evaluation

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Bogre

(2012). Photography as activism: Images for social change. Focal Press.

Carlson

E. D.

Engebretson

Chamberlain

R. M.

(2006). Photovoice as a social process of critical consciousness. Qualitative Health Research, 16(6), 836–852. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732306287525

Catalani

Minkler

(2010). Photovoice: A review of the literature in health and public health. Health Education & Behavior, 37(3), 424–451. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198109342084

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2010). Community Health Assessment And Group Evaluation (CHANGE) action guide: Building a foundation of knowledge to prioritize community needs. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Clark

Morriss

(2015). The use of visual methodologies in social work research over the last decade: A narrative review and some questions for the future. Qualitative Social Work, 16(1), 29–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325015601205

Evans-Agnew

R. A.

Boutain

D. M.

Rosemberg

M.-A. S.

(2017). Advancing nursing research in the visual era: Re-envisioning the photovoice process across phenomenological, grounded theory, and critical theory methodologies. Advances in Nursing Science, 40(1), E1–E15.

Evans-Agnew

R. A.

Boutain

D. M.

Rosemberg

M.-A. S.

“other authors?” (2022). Emancipatory photovoice: A primer. Health Promotion Practice, 23(2)

Ewald

(1985). Portraits and dreams. Writers and Readers Publishing.

Freire

(1973). Education for critical consciousness. Seabury Press.

10.

French

(1985). Beyond Power: On women, men, and morals. Summit Books.

11.

Freudenberg

(2007). From lifestyle to social determinants: New directions for community health promotion research and practice. Preventing Chronic Disease, 4(3), A47.

12.

Golden

S. D.

McLeroy

K. R.

Green

L. W.

Earp

J. A. L.

Lieberman

L. D.

(2015). Upending the Social Ecological Model to guide health promotion efforts toward policy and environmental change. Health Education & Behavior, 42(1), 8S–14S. https://doi.org/10.1177/1090198115575098

13.

Gubrium

Harper

(2013). Participatory visual and digital methods. Routledge.

14.

Guthrie

Louie

Foster

C. C.

(2005). The challenge of assessing policy and advocacy activities: Strategies for a prospective evaluation approach. Blueprint Research & Design for the California Endowment.

15.

Guthrie

Louie

Foster

C. C.

(2006). The challenge of assessing policy and advocacy activities: Moving from theory to practice. Blueprint Research & Design for the California Endowment.

16.

Hergenrather

K. C.

Rhodes

S. D.

Cowan

C. A.

Bardhoshi

Pula

(2009). Photovoice as community-based participatory research: A qualitative review. American Journal of Health Behavior, 33(6), 686–698. https://doi.org/10.5993/AJHB.33.6.6

17.

Horkheimer

(1937). Traditional and critical theory. Journal of Social Research, 6(2), 245–294.

18.

Horkheimer

(2002). Critical theory: Selected essays. Continuum.

19.

Huang

T. T. K.

Cawley

J. H.

Ashe

Costa

S. A.

Frerichs

L. M.

Zwicker

Rivera

J. A.

Levy

Hammond

R. A.

Lambert

E. V.

Kumanyika

S. K.

(2015). Mobilisation of public support for policy actions to prevent obesity. The Lancet, 385(9985), 2422–2431. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)61743-8

20.

Israel

B. A.

Eng

Schulz

A. J.

Parker

E. A.

(Eds.). (2005). Methods in community-based participatory research for health. Jossey-Bass.

21.

Keller

Fleury

Perez

Ainsworth

Vaughan

(2008). Using visual methods to uncover context. Qualitative Health Research, 18(3), 428–436. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732307313615

22.

Lal

Jarus

Suto

M. J.

(2012). A scoping review of the photovoice method: Implications for occupational therapy research. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 79(3), 181–190. https://doi.org/10.2182/cjot.2012.79.3.8

23.

Lewin

(1951). Field theory in social sciences: Selected theoretical papers. Harper & Row.

24.

Liebenberg

(2018). Thinking critically about photovoice: Achieving empowerment and social change. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 17, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406918757631

25.

Lorenz

Bush

(2022). Critical and creative thinking and photovoice: Strategies for strengthening participation and inclusion. Health Promotion Practice, 23(2).

26.

Lykes

M. B.

Scheib

(2015). The artistry of emancipatory practice: Photovoice, creative techniques, and feminist anti-racist participatory action research. In Bradbury-Huang

(Ed.), Handbook of action research (3rd ed., pp. 131–142). https://doi.org/10.4135/9781473921290.n14.

27.

McGavran

E. G.

(1956). Scientific diagnosis and treatment of the community as a patient. Journal of the American Medical Association, 162, 723–727.

28.

McLeroy

Bibeau

Steckler

Glanz

(1998). An ecological perspective on health promotion programs. Health Education Quarterly, 15(4), 351–377. https://doi.org/10.1177/109019818801500401

29.

Minkler

Wallerstein

(2008). Community-based participatory research for health: From process to outcomes (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.

30.

Reason

Bradbury

(2006). Handbook of action research: Participative inquiry and practice. SAGE.

31.

Reisman

Gienapp

Stachowiak

(2007). A guide to measuring advocacy and policy. Organizational Research Services, Annie E. Casey Foundation.

32.

Riis

J. A.

(2012). How the other half lives: Studies among the tenements of New York (L. Dominguez, Ed.). Chelenzo Ink. (Original work published 1890)

33.

Sallis

J. F.

Owen

Fisher

E. B.

(2008). Ecological models of health behavior. In Glanz

Rimer

B. K.

Viswanath

(Eds.), Health behavior and health education: Theory, research, and practice (4th ed.). https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-116-4-350_1

34.

Seitz

C. M.

Strack

R. W.

(2016). Conducting public health photovoice projects with those who are homeless: A review of the literature. Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless, 25(1), 33–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/10530789.2015.1135565

35.

Sontag

(1977). On photography. Penguin Books.

36.

Stokols

Allen

Bellingham

R. L.

(1996). The social ecology of health promotion: Implications for research and practice. American Journal of Health Promotion, 10(4), 247–251. https://doi.org/10.4278/0890-1171-10.4.247

37.

Strack

R. W.

Aronson

R. A.

Orsini

M. M.

Seitz

C. M.

McCoy

(2018). Using photovoice to uncover campus issues and advocate change for black males. Journal of College Student Development, 59(4), 491–498.

38.

Strack

R. W.

Lovelace

K. A.

Jordan

T. D.

Holmes

A. P.

(2010). Framing photovoice using a social-ecological logic model as a guide. Health Promotion Practice, 11(5), 629–636. https://doi.org/10.1177/1524839909355519

39.

Strack

R. W.

Magill

McDonagh

(2004). Engaging youth through photovoice. Health Promotion Practice, 5(1), 49–58.

40.

Stryker

R. E.

Wood

N. C.

(1973). In this proud land: America, 1935-1943, as seen in the FSA photographs. New York Graphic Society.

41.

Wang

C. C.

(2006). Youth participation in photovoice as a strategy for community change. Journal of Community Practice, 14(1–2), 147–161. https://doi.org/10.1300/J125v14n01

42.

Wang

C. C.

(2022). The Tai Qi of Photovoice. Health Promotion Practice, 23(2).

43.

Wang

C. C.

Burris

M. A.

(1994). Empowerment through photo novella: Portraits of participation. Health Education Quarterly, 21(2), 171–186. https://doi.org/10.1177/109019819402100204

44.

Wang

C. C.

Burris

M. A.

(1997). Photovoice: Concept, methodology, and use for participatory needs assessment. Health Education & Behavior, 24(3), 369–387.

45.

Wang

C. C.

Cash

J. L.

Powers

L. S.

(2000). Who knows the streets as well as the homeless? Promoting personal and community action through photovoice. Health Promotion Practice, 1(1), 81–89. https://doi.org/10.1177/152483990000100113

46.

Wang

C. C.

Pies

C. A.

(2008). Using photovoice for participatory assessment and issue selection: Lessons from a family, maternal, and child health department. In M. Minkler, & N. Wallerstein (Eds.), Community-based participatory research for health: From process to outcomes (2nd ed., pp. 183–198). Jossey-Bass.

47.

Wang

C. C.

W. K.

Tao

Z. W.

Carovano

(1998). Photovoice as a participatory health promotion strategy. Health Promotion International, 13, 75–86.

48.

Weiner

B. J.

Lewis

M. A.

Clauser

S. B.

Stitzenberg

K. B.

(2012). In search of synergy: Strategies for combining interventions at multiple levels. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs, 44, 34–41. https://doi.org/10.1093/jncimonographs/lgs001

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB