1. Reality, Symbolism and
an Arranged Scene

2. There are 3 ways to convey your message visually
Photographing reality:
What is happening NOW.
Photographing symbols:
Show an idea, concept or a theme.
Posing the scene:
Photographing an arranged scene.
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

3. What is ‘reality’ in a photo?
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

4. Reality
Reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined.
How can we show reality in a picture?
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

5. What do you see in these pictures?
To take pictures of things as they actually exist. See next slides for examples.
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

6. Girls on a scooter August 2019
Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

7. A cat in front of a shop August 2019
Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

8. Birds on electric wires
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

9. The pictures speak for themselves
What you see in this picture is happening (or has happened).
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

10. Instead of reality, we can use symbolism in a photo.
What is ‘symbolism’?
Ask the group what they think symbolism is. On the next slide an answer is provided. Also read the facilitators note in the photovoice manual on symbolism.
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

11. Symbolism
A symbol is something that represents, stands for, or points to something else.
This means, something we see on a photo might not be the actual meaning of the photo.
How do we use symbolism in a picture?
See next slide for example
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

12. Example: This is a symbol for….?
In the leaf you can see a heart. Mainly participants will respond with ‘love’. Connect this slide to the previous slide and explain the heart represents love, and therefore the heart is a symbol for love.
Ask the group if they can come up with more symbols.
Make clear symbols can have different meanings in different context (‘Rain’ can for example be happiness but also sadness), so captions with pictures might be needed to provide more explanation
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

13. Let’s practise What do you see?
What is the meaning of the next photos, according to you?
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

14. Let the group come up with answers
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

15. Let the group come up with answers
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

16. Let the group come up with answers
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

17. The pictures do not speak for themselves
It is possible that what you see in this picture, is not what is meant with this picture.
Optional: do exercise 1 from the photovoice manual in the facilitator’s note to practice with association.
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

18. Furthermore….
An object can symbolize multiple things, depending on the way you photograph and arrange the object.
In the following pictures different hands are depicted. The way they are arranged (position, color, context) influences the way you can interpret the picture.
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

19. August 2019
Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

20. August 2019
Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

21. August 2019
Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

22. When making your choice
Mix reality and symbolism.
Because using only symbolism can get boring – or just too demanding – for the viewer.
Give everyone 10 minutes time to think how they will capture the concepts in a picture. The exercise must be done individually to prevent participants from influencing each other.
After everyone has written down their ideas, discuss your answers with your fellow participants. For every concept ask a few participants what they have come up with.
When discussing possible answers, stay critical. Mainly ask; ‘Why did you choose that subject in the picture?’ ‘Do you think the viewer will understand?’ and ‘What does it mean?’ Also, make sure the idea is also realistic and possible to photograph (for example: it will be difficult to photograph a butterfly on a flower or rain and sun in the same picture) If the idea is not feasible, try to come up with suggestions for other possibilities.
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

23. Now think for yourself how you would take a picture of
A broken heart?
A new opportunity in your life?
Your relationship with your mother or father?
Give everyone 10 minutes time to think how they will capture the concepts in a picture. The exercise must be done individually to prevent participants from influencing each other.
After everyone has written down their ideas, discuss your answers with your fellow participants. For every concept ask a few participants what they have come up with.
When discussing possible answers, stay critical. Mainly ask; ‘Why did you choose that subject in the picture?’ ‘Do you think the viewer will understand?’ and ‘What does it mean?’ Also, make sure the idea is also realistic and possible to photograph (for example: it will be difficult to photogrpah a butterfly on a flower or rain and sun in the same picture) If the idea is not feasible, try to come up with suggestions for other possibilities.
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

24. Another option is to re-arrange reality to show what you want to tell
We call this:
an arranged scene
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

25. The photographer asked one boy to stand up and asked the other boys to look at him. This way it seems like the standing boy is teaching something to the rest of the group.
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

26. The photographer asked the boy in the middle to kneel down
The photographer asked the boy in the middle to kneel down. He asked the boys around to jump up backwards at his mark. The photographer took this picture to show strength and power.
Optional: do exercise 2 from the photovoice manual in the facilitator’s note to practice using reality and symbolism.
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

27. Think of this when arranging your scene
Make it believable!
If people don’t want their faces in the picture, shoot your picture from the behind or zoom in on body parts (e.g. hands, legs, feet).
Arrange a scene when you cannot get consent for a shot in reality (e.g. at a clinic or doctor’s office).
Give everyone 10 minutes time to think how they will capture the concepts in a picture. The exercise must be done individually to prevent participants from influencing each other.
After everyone has written down their ideas, discuss your answers with your fellow participants. For every concept ask a few participants what they have come up with.
When discussing possible answers, stay critical. Mainly ask; ‘Why did you choose that subject in the picture?’ ‘Do you think the viewer will understand?’ and ‘What does it mean?’ Also, make sure the idea is also realistic and possible to photograph (for example: it will be difficult to photogrpah a butterfly on a flower or rain and sun in the same picture) If the idea is not feasible, try to come up with suggestions for other possibilities.
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Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene

28. To sum up
Both reality and symbolism can be used to show your message in a picture.
Reality is the state of things as they actually exist.
A symbol is something that represents, stands for, or points to something else.
An object can symbolize multiple things, depending on the way you photograph and arrange the object.
You can create your own reality by arranging a scene.
August 2019
Reality, Symbolism and an Arranged Scene