PREPARED BY EMILY GRAFTON, JULY 2013 This is PhotoVoice

VOICE Project Partners

PhotoVoice Sample 1 This video can be found on YouTube at

What is PhotoVoice? It is a research method. It uses community participation. Photos and/or videos are collected to tell a story. Then this story is shared.

Why use PhotoVoice? PhotoVoice is interested in what you have to say about your community. You can do this with photos, videos, or words. You can choose what you want to say.

Making Change PhotoVoice can also be used to make change either within or outside your community. Maybe there is something you think could be made better in your community? Maybe you think your community has successes that should be better understood by people outside of your community?

To Start: Let’s brainstorm ideas about your community that could be researched. Turn to your neighbour and ask:  Why do we want to research this?  Who should be involved in the research?  How do we want to capture the research – photo, video, words/ story, or all?

The Middle When the photos, video, words have been collected, you will get together to review them. You can assemble them into a package. This could be a video, a collage, posters, framed images, or any multi-media format that you think is best. You can add music, stories, or other affects to our project. When making these decisions, you should think about the impact you want the project to make – either inside or outside of the community.

The End PhotoVoice is used to make change in or outside the community. Remember you asked yourselves:  Why do we want to do this research?  Is it for only our community or can it include people outside of our community? The answers to these questions can help you decide how to use this project for change. Do you want to make a video or have a gallery exhibit? Who would you show the work to or invite?

Before we start: Our Community Circle How can we encourage community engagement in our own community projects? How do we reach out to community members to participate in the project? How do we keep project members involved in the project? What positive outcomes does the community hope to achieve? In what ways do we want to present the data? A gallery presentation, video, social media, and should it be presented inside or outside of the community?

Before we start: Ethics What is confidentiality? What is informed consent? How can we ask people to be apart of our research and what are the ways to ask them to sign a consent form?

PhotoVoice Sample 2 Think of these issues as we watch a second example of PhotoVoice. What could be some of the positive outcomes or successes in this sample? How many people had to give consent for this sample? What were the ethical issues raised by this sample? This video can be found on YouTube at

Your Thoughts? What’s your reaction to this video as an example of PhotoVoice? What does success look like for this project? What kinds of consent are needed for this project? What are the ethical considerations?

Thank you Links to videos: Sample Sample 2 –