Methodological Considerations in the Use of Participant Photography With Black Male Students

• In Event: 34.079 - Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: 34.079-9 - Diversifying Methodologies

Abstract

This paper will discuss the benefits and dilemmas of conducting participatory visual projects with Black males. Participatory visual methods attempt to situate research subjects as co-collaborators in the discovery process and create spaces for participants to address and critique the issues most salient to them. The paper describes the methodology of a participant photography research project that examined how Black males make meaning of the issues salient to them, and how they visually and discursively position and re-position themselves in relation to hegemonic conceptions of Black masculinities. Additionally, the paper discusses the power of counter-storytelling and consciousness building through photography and photo elicitation, issues regarding new digital technologies, ownership, and photographic (re)presentation.

Author

• Quaylan Allen, Chapman University