We Are The Future
December 12, 2011
Critical Exposure’s Photo of the Month for November 2011 is called We Are The Future: Read more
What I See, Who I Am!
October 19, 2011
Disabled children explore their world through photography, with help from College of Art and Design students at Princess Nora Bint Abdulrahman University, in Saudi Arabia.
This article is a guest feature by Janice Levy, a professor in the Department of Cinema, Photography, and Media Arts at Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY. Professor Levy spent ten months of her 2010-2011 sabbatical in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, teaching photography to young women at the newly established College of Fine Art and Design at Princess Nora bint Abdul Rahman University in Riyadh.
Ian Rowe: Participant vs. Professional Photography
October 1, 2011
In a unique class, Visual Communication and Social Change, 4th-year students explore and contrast the images of professional and “participant” photographers; try to discern the impact of various forms of visual media on its target audiences; and read authors who promote participant-photography and those who are critical of it, as they attempt to answer questions such as, “Do media professionals distort the stories of the poor and dispossessed? Can participant-photography make a meaningful impact given the amateur photographer’s lack of training and experience?” Read their initial analyses and join the conversation.
Participant vs. Professional Photography by Ian Rowe
In the author’s view, photography as a medium for political activism has not been very effective due to a lack of authenticity. She also criticized the photographers mentioned in her paper as maintaining the status quo rather than countering it. I argue that there is no magic bullet to solve a given social or political issue but rather the solution comes from a persistence stemming from artists, activists, community members, and those who consider themselves all of the above. Photography is a medium that can report, express, and contribute to social change. Professional photography and citizen journalism are both necessary and can provide differing advantages in expression, reporting, and political contribution.
Read more
Photovoice Research: Examining The Transition to Manhood For Young Black Men in Los Angeles
November 16, 2010
Photovoice is a participatory photography and digital storytelling methodology proposed by Caroline C. Wang and Mary Ann Burris 1994. They described it as a process that “entrusts cameras to the hands of people to enable them to act as recorders, and potential catalysts for change, in their own communities,” in their 1997 essay Photovoice: Concept, methodology, and use for participatory needs assessment.
In practice, photovoice is often used by public health researchers, exclusively or in tandem with other methodologies, to develop qualitative data. Pictures taken by respondents are used as a tool to help them describe their lives and health concerns to researchers.
While still considered an avant-garde research technique, photovoice is an emerging tool in the medical field. It presents a new way to gather data but, at the same time, raises ethical questions for some researchers. UCLA health services PhD candidate Nazleen Bharmal, M.D., recently completed a photovoice project that examines the turbulent transition to manhood young black men face in Los Angeles. [LINK] Click on to read more about her experience with photovoice.
