By Twine Bananuka Although it is commonly held that a picture - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

By Twine Bananuka

 Although it is commonly held that ‘a picture speaks more than a thousand words’,  It is equally true that a picture speaks more about the photographer than the person or image photographed (Silverman, 2005).  Wade et al (2002) also note that ‘A picture is worth a thousand lies’

 We have all at one point taken pictures or used them  However, how often do we pause to ask;  as to who took them,  the purpose for which they were taken,  the context in which they were taken and the intended audience.  This gives a glimpse of the dilemma that researchers using photovoice and perhaps other visual methods find themselves in

 It is a participatory technique that involves facilitating research participants to take and analyze pictures describing their world and practices  Photovoice serves three major purposes, that is, enabling people to; Record and represent their everyday realities; 1) Promote critical dialogue and knowledge about 2) personal and community strengths and concerns; Reach policymakers 3)

 The photovoice exploration reported in this paper was part of a larger case study of Emesco Development Foundation (EDF), an indigenous NGO focused on community development work.  The study was conducted in Buyanja county, Kibaale district, in mid- western Uganda.

 Photovoice was used with one group of the population, i.e. Community Development Workers (CDWs) as;  a means of giving them an opportunity to tell their story and have their voices heard through photographic evidence  It was also adopted because it aligns very well with the critical theory paradigm adopted for this study

Participant Sex Age Highest level Role in EDF Community pseudonym of education Teruth F 61 Primary 4 TBA Kiduukule Nsemba F 32 Primary 7 CHW Kiduukule Iruku M 30 Certificate CRP Kiduukule Balifaijo M 36 Senior 4 CRP Kiduukule Noreda F 52 Senior 2 CHW Busesa B Poskali M 68 Primary 7 CHW Lukindo

The issue of power relations and 1. vulnerability.  Power relations  Vulnerability and the right of minors/children.  The hows and the process of publishing photographs  The anonymity clause

2. The use of money to facilitate photovoice research 3. The use and handling of the camera 4. The control over ethical procedure by the Principal Researcher

 Noreda (pseudonym); I first took this photo of a mother who had just delivered … however when her husband later arrived, she told him about the photograph. He also said ‘please take mine too with my baby’ . I then took his photograph carrying the baby.

 IRUKU (pseudonym)  … after getting his permission to take his photograph as he worked on his blacksmith job, he objected that I do not also take the picture of his house, well knowing the poor condition in which it was. However, I later asked somebody else to go and take the picture for me because I felt it would be an interesting case to the study …  PI/Facilitator; But this is against our agreed position of not taking pictures without permission … . Laughter … (picture was not included in the selection and participants were told why)... and they concurred).

A TBA examining an expectant mother; Although the TBA was my research participant/co-researcher, she passed over her camera to her son to take her photograph in action

Does permission/consent from parents morally bind the children?

A community meeting chaired by a local leader on community service

A TBA standing in the background giving postnatal lessons to mother before immunizing the children

A young couple with a newly born baby with the assistance of A TBA/research participant

Unemployed young men gambling on the roadside in the morning, instead of engaging in productive work

 Appeal to human conscience and reasoning  The protection of human dignity  Carefully interrogating research participants on the ethical procedures followed on each photograph presented to the group  Constantly being in touch with participants throughout the process rather than waiting to carry out an audit at the end of the process  Categorization of photographs in terms into levels of publication

 The argument advanced in this paper is that it takes more than written rules and standards set by Ethical Boards & Committees to deal with issues related to ethics of photovoice research  Human judgement and the desire to protect human dignity remains key to photovoice ethics, although this standard can be abused

1) Dr. Vaughn John, University of KwaZulu-  Acknowledgements Natal, South Africa 2) Prof. Budd Hall, University of Victoria, Canada