Participatory photography. From qualitative research of social worlds to sociological intervention

Abstract

In the article, resorting to the phenomenological understanding of the "social world", the authoress looks for the new possibilities of researching social worlds with the use of participatory photography, and by integrating research and citizen practice. One may speak of participatory photography when individuals or groups that would traditionally constitute the objects of observation take and interpret photographs representing significant parts of their lives and experiences themselves. Hence, as a research technique, participatory photography changes the perspective of cognition from the position of an outsider to the one of an insider. In this way, it allows insight, in accordance with the directives of interpretative sociology, into the subjective definitions of the observed situations, as constructed by the participants. Then, it provides the picture takers with the possibility of fully subjective expression concerning their own experiences, needs or goals, which is particularly important in the case of minority, marginalized, or excluded groups. However, this is when participatory photography goes beyond the limits of scientific knowledge, and into the area of social change, becoming a means of sociological intervention.