Photovoice: an act of resistance from Black womxn in academia in the UK

What does transformative and participatory research look like? What do we, as researchers, understand these words to mean? This paper argues that photovoice (Wang & Burris, 1997) is a powerful creative method to recentre the narratives of Black womxn in Higher Education in the UK. It relies on visual images captured by participants to tell their own stories. Stereotypical images of Black womxn shaped by White supremacy such as the angry Black womxn or the Jezebel (Collins, 1991) have been designed to control their identities and have greatly contributed to their oppression. For this reason, photovoice could be seen as an act of resistance, as a way to regain control and spread positive images of what it means to be a Black womxn, in general, but specifically in academia. As an act of empowerment, it allows participants to be actively involved in shaping the research design and in return, it allows them to create their own narratives. As a transformative method, photovoice disrupts the status quo and redistributes power in the research process. However, all the above is only feasible if the researcher clearly defines what is understood by voice in photovoice. Whose voice? How do we, as researchers, amplify our participants’ voice without losing our own? Furthermore, our own positionality needs to be considered in terms of how it could influence the research process. With photovoice, participants and researchers can engage meaningfully and active collaboration takes place between participants and researchers, but also among participants themselves. With photovoice, the voices of Black womxn could be amplified, voices which are too often ignored and silenced and whose existence is still dehumanised. I contend that in a society where structural and institutional barriers are designed to disregard Black womxn’s and other marginalised perspectives, photovoice is a powerful conduit for change. Collins, P. (1991) Controlling images and Black women’s oppression. Seeing ourselves: Classic, contemporary, and cross-cultural readings in sociology, 4, pp.266-273. Wang, C. and Burris, M.A. (1997). Photovoice: concept, methodology, and use for participatory needs assessment. Health education & behavior, 24(3), pp.369–87. doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/109019819702400309.