2025 Summer Photovoice

"Photovoice is a powerful qualitative research method that combines photos and accompanying words generated by participants. Developed nearly three decades ago as a participatory research method in public health by Wang & Burris (1994, 1997), it has since evolved for use worldwide, across numerous academic disciplines, and by a variety of practitioners working with communities for change, advocacy efforts, and social justice.

As a participatory research method, each project evolves a bit differently based on a variety of factors including, but not limited to funding, goals of participant/co-researchers, goals of researchers or community project leaders,  questions at hand, and local context. A core component of Photovoice is some sort of culminating component focusing on advocacy and/or policy change.

An overarching snapshot of the photovoice implementation process is a series of modified focus groups where participants meet to engage in ethics and safety training around taking photos, discussions of photos taken, shared analysis of photos, and shared planning for an advocacy event. Photovoice has traditionally been implemented in person, in community-based settings, but as with so many other research methods, it can be modified for use both in person or online."