Photovoice

Abstract

Photovoice is a participatory visual research methodology that was developed to foster social change and privilege the voices of marginalized populations. It has been widely used in health communication research. First, an overview of photovoice as a methodology is presented, sharing key definitions, attributes, and uses. Second, this entry highlights a number of photovoice studies to illustrate its widespread use in studying a variety of different healthcare contexts and health conditions. Next, this entry addresses research design considerations before employing this methodology, including: (i) identifying audiences; (ii) participant confidentiality; (iii) use of technology; (iv) participant direction for photography; (v) copyright legalities; and (vi) the role of interviews. In closing, future directions for photovoice methodology are proposed.