Research tools or collaborative toys? cameras and participatory research with youth

My participatory photography and video project with a First Nations teen drop in center in Northern British Columbia has revealed the benefits of viewing cameras as toys through which community-based research projects can actively engage the world rather than as tools for authoritative observers. The interactive play between the instant feed back of digital cameras placed in youths’ hands creates relationships that allow for the exploration of delicate subjects and intimate moments captured on video. The display of meanings constructed through visual images reveal powerful possibilities for visual research methodologies used in collaborative research.Arts, Faculty ofAnthropology, Department ofGraduat