PHOTOVOICE
WHAT IS PHOTOVOICE?
Photovoice blends a grassroots approach to photography and social action. It provides cameras, not to health specialists, policy makers, or professionals, but to people with the least access to those who make decisions affecting their lives. From the villages of rural China to the communities of Richmond County, people have used Photovoice to amplify their vision and experience. Photovoice has three goals: 1) It enables people to record and reflect their community's strengths and problems; 2) It promotes dialogue about important issues through group discussion and photographs; and, 3) It engages policymakers. It follows the premise that, as founder Caroline C. Wang explains, "What experts think is important may not match what people at the grassroots think is important."
WHAT IS HIDDEN (SPRING 2018)
This Photovoice project began in the Spring of 2018. It reflects perspectives on seniors and social isolation in Richmond County, N.S.through the eyes of five empowered women from Louisdale, Roberta and Point Michaud. They show us their perspectives of seniors and social isolation by what they interpret through the camera lens in their communities. The powerful voices of these women are captured in how they reveal those perspectives in their own unique ways. It also comes from a collective voice, expressed through shared experiences of navigating loss, illness and remote living. The resulting collaborative photo essay begins with the photo entitled Look Closer and concludes with Full Circle.
COMMUNITY CARING FOR COMMUNITY (FALL 2017)
This Photovoice project took place in the fall of 2017. It began with early discussions about determining a meaningful theme. The ideas that emerged helped engineer a shared awareness among the individuals taking part: Dwight Brymer; Billy Cotton; Karin Digout; and, Art Digout. A collective theme about how community takes care of community surfaced. Discussions revolved around why living here is great - because people are kind and take care of one another. But, is it always perfect? Those who need caring for the most - the elderly, those struggling with mental health and addictions, those living in poverty, or who have faced uphill battles in life in other ways – can fall through the cracks. We spoke about cracks in the support systems, such as overburdened health care as well as a cultural change. How have those cracks resulted in people doing a lot of community building on their own? From these conversations each photographer worked within this collective theme – community caring for community – and used photography to represent their own perspectives. The resulting collaborative photo essay begins with the photo entitled Sunrise at Lynche's River and concludes with At the End of the Day.