RTV #4 - Sharpen Your View! Distribute Cameras to Children and Families

A Year of Raising the Village: Week #4 - Using PhotoVoice with Children and Families

Give children and their families a creative opportunity to contribute their perspective on community. Perspective - literally - through the lens of a camera. Ask them to take photos about their lives in general or about a specific issue. Celebrate their contributions and then USE what you learn in community planning. 


While including the voice of children and families is important it can also be challenging - see our previous blog on listening to parents.  Photovoice is a very special methodology that can be used with citizens of any age.  Here are some links to give you some more direction and inspiration. They offer examples of the power of photovoice with children and families!

Children as Photographers This research study looks at children as photographers. It is a large-scale research project looking at how and why children take photographs – which can shed some light on how to approach a photovoice project and give some realistic expectations of children at different ages.

Kids With Cameras Kids with Cameras was founded in 2002 by photographer Zana Briski out of her work teaching photography to children in Calcutta's red-light district. She believes that photography is an effective tool in igniting children's imagination and building self-esteem.

The New Orleans Kids Camera Project The New Orleans Kid Camera Project was created to address the psychological and emotional impacts of Hurricane Katrina on children returning home to New Orleans. Through the use of photography, creative writing and mixed media, children from flooded neighborhoods explore their environment and express themselves, their stories and feelings with their friends

PhotoVoice These projects uses photography to enable those that have traditionally been the subject of such work to become its creator - to have control over how they are perceived by the rest of the world, while simultaneously learning a new skill which can enhance their lives.

PhotoVoice – St. Louis Maternal Child and Family Health Coalition

The photography project was part of a PhotoVoice Empowerment Initiative in which the mothers were asked to create a window on their neighborhoods, their needs and perhaps illuminate why health and prosperity remain so elusive.

Village Raising Tip:

Not only will organizers learn a TON from the children and families who contribute – but the participants, themselves, will feel a sense of ownership and belonging to an inclusive community planning process.