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Picture This: Exploring Photovoice as a Method to Understand Lived Experiences in Marginal Neighbourhoods

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  • Juliet Carpenter

    (Global Centre on Healthcare and Urbanisation, University of Oxford, UK)

Abstract

Scholars in the social sciences are increasingly turning to research questions that explore everyday lived experiences, using participatory visual methodologies to promote critical reflections on urban challenges. In contrast with traditional research approaches, participatory visual methods engage directly with community participants, foregrounding their daily realities, and working towards collaborative knowledge production of participants’ situated experiences, potentially leading to transformative thinking and action. This participatory turn in research intersects with growing interests in community participation in collaborative planning and effective ways of engaging “unheard voices” in a planning context, particularly in marginalized neighbourhoods, using arts-based methods. This article critically examines the potential of participatory visual methodologies, exploring how the method of photovoice can reveal otherwise obscured perspectives from the viewpoint of communities in marginalised neighbourhoods. Based on a case study in the Downtown Eastside, Vancouver, the research considers whether and how creative participatory approaches can contribute to giving voice to communities and, if so, how these methods can impact a city’s planning for urban futures. The research shows that, potentially, photovoice can provide a means of communicating community perspectives, reimagining place within the framework of participatory planning processes to those who make decisions on the neighbourhood’s future. However, the research also demonstrates that there are limitations to the approach, bringing into sharp focus the ethical dimensions and challenges of participatory visual methodologies as a tool for engaging with communities, in an urban planning context.

Suggested Citation

  • Juliet Carpenter, 2022. "Picture This: Exploring Photovoice as a Method to Understand Lived Experiences in Marginal Neighbourhoods," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 351-362.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:urbpla:v:7:y:2022:i:3:p:351-362
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Päivi Rannila & Tikli Loivaranta, 2015. "Planning as Dramaturgy: Agonistic Approaches to Spatial Enactment," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(4), pages 788-806, July.
    2. Raksha Vasudevan, 2020. "The Potentials and Pitfalls of ‘Art in Research’ Methodologies: Foregrounding Memory and Emotion in Planning Research," Planning Theory & Practice, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(1), pages 58-75, January.
    3. Rob Vanwynsberghe & Björn Surborg & Elvin Wyly, 2013. "When the Games Come to Town: Neoliberalism, Mega-Events and Social Inclusion in the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(6), pages 2074-2093, November.
    4. Heather E. McLean, 2014. "Cracks in the Creative City: The Contradictions of Community Arts Practice," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(6), pages 2156-2173, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Juliet Carpenter & Christina Horvath, 2022. "Co-Creation and the City: Arts-Based Methods and Participatory Approaches in Urban Planning," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 311-314.

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