A Picture Is Worth . . . ? Photo Elicitation Interviewing With Formerly Homeless Adults

Abstract

We report on the use of photo elicitation interviewing (PEI) with 13 participants in a qualitative study of formerly homeless men and women with serious mental illness. Following a respondent-controlled approach, participants were asked to take up to 18 photographs visually portraying positive and negative aspects of their lives and to subsequently narrate the meaning of the photos in a one-on-one interview. Thematic analysis of the photos (N = 205) revealed two approaches to PEI: (a) a “slice of life” and (b) “then vs. now.” Examples show how PEIs yielded deeper, more elaborate accounts of participants’ lives compared to earlier verbal-only interviews. Participants spoke of the benefits of PEI and preferred taking positive as opposed to negative photographs depicting their lives. Implications of PEI as a means of complementing verbal-only data are discussed. By moving away from predetermined content and meaning, respondent-controlled PEIs enhance empowerment and enable creativity.

The Epistemological and Ethical Value of Autophotography for Mobilities Research in Transcultural Contexts

“…Autophotography's participant-orientation is also understood to have ethical benefits, which are often framed in terms of empowerment, particularly a shift of representational power from researchers to research subjects (Padgett et al, 2013;Shah, 2015). Indeed, empowerment of subjugated groups to "define, analyse and critique their communities through photographs and the analysis of photographs" (Joseph, 2017, p. 293) is often identified as autophotography's central motivation and defining characteristic (Delgado, 2015;Johnson, 2011).…”

Focus Groups

“…Also, somewhat different data may be elicited because there is evidence that words and pictures are processed in differing ways in the brain (Padgett et al, 2013). This level of engagement may be particularly useful for children and others who are not used to sharing in a group setting.…”

El consumo de inhalables en las prácticas de socialidad de dos grupos de estudiantes de secundarias públicas

“…Para analizar los videos se siguió la metodología visual o photo elicitation, [19][20][21][22] en tanto que ha sido recomendada para estudiar el consumo juvenil y adulto de distintas sustancias, [23][24][25][26] ya que motiva el diálogo y suscita reacciones emotivas, sentimientos o recuerdos que difícilmente se producen en una entrevista tradicional, 20,21 además favorece el involucramiento y la reflexividad de los entrevistados. Esta metodología propone usar imágenes dibujadas, fotográficas, cinematográficas y video-grabadas para ser interpretadas por sus creadores, actores, testigos y por otros que sean de interés para la investigación en entrevistas en profundidad y/o grupos de discusión que buscan explorar los significados de las imágenes, lo que ocurre en éstas y lo que no se ve en las mismas.…”