Collecting Viewpoints and Voicing with Photointerview

Photography is used in multiple ways in everyday life and different population groups use photos in a variety of social contexts. Social science takes advantage of this fact by way of a visual participatory research method called “photo interview,”used for over two decades by visual sociologists, social anthropologists, clinicians, and other researchers.

Photointerview allows participants to talk about real-life experiences and “show” their perspectives through photographs they have taken to share with the interviewer. Photo interview sheds light on the less apparent, unintended, and often-unrecognized elements that exist in our daily environments and in our social institutions and processes.