Claiming Online Space for Empowering Methods: Taking Photovoice to Scale Online

Photovoice is a participatory action research method that combines documentary photography, individual storytelling, and critical group discussion processes. Curated photographs and stories that constitute the data of Photovoice projects often serve as catalysts for community-driven social change. Traditionally excluded voices are amplified through the strategic dissemination of knowledge generated through Photovoice projects. Past community-based projects have tended to be small, geographically constrained, demanding on participants, and resource intensive, thus limiting the potential for use in large-scale social change efforts across diverse stakeholders. To push the boundaries of Photovoice use within the field of community psychology and other applied settings, this paper introduces an innovative online Photovoice method, discussing in detail the mechanics of developing an online platform as well as key facilitation processes necessary to design an empowering online setting. Through analysis of one project involving 120 youth across one state, we will demonstrate how the move online promotes participant engagement while retaining quality, empowering the participatory processes that are the hallmark of Photovoice projects. Future directions and implications are discussed for this novel methodology to be used within the current sociopolitical context