Photovoice for land-use change: A visual tool for participatory research

Csaba Toldi, a local stakeholder himself. Drawing by visual artist Fanni Sall.

Photovoice is a participatory research method in which participants use photographs and accompanying narratives to document and communicate their personal experiences, perspectives, and insights, often to inform policy or social change. In this article, read how the MOSAIC team is using the photovoice method to understand diverse viewpoints on land-use change.

Why use photos to give people a voice?

Photovoice combines documentary photography, feminist studies, and Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy. Since its inception in 1997 by Wang and Burris, photovoice has empowered participants to document and address issues affecting their communities, fostering meaningful dialogue based on their experiential knowledge. By visually representing their lived realities, participants can challenge top-down narratives and bring attention to overlooked aspects of environmental and socio-economic changes (Czeglédi 2023).

Participatory climate change research

Unlike conventional research methods that rely on prestructured interview questions, photovoice allows stakeholders to reveal how their livelihoods, natural environments, and other living beings in their surroundings are affected by climate change. Often, voicing their experiential knowledge with the help of photographs extends beyond or complements the scope of institutionalised research interests. While scientific articles provide critical data on climate change, they may lack the personal, emotional, and place-based perspectives that the photovoice research method brings to light. The imagery produced serves as a powerful medium for communicating lived experiences that statistical reports or textual descriptions alone cannot fully capture.

Through photographs, participants capture hidden aspects of daily life, making complex socio-environmental issues more tangible and emotionally resonant. This methodology challenges hierarchical researcher-participant dynamics, fostering a more empathetic and inclusive form of inquiry. By engaging directly with the research process, participants contribute to knowledge production in ways that validate and centre their perspectives, rather than being passive subjects.

Messages to policy and decision-makers

Participants in photovoice research can actively shape research agendas through visual storytelling. This approach democratises knowledge production and informs policymakers and engages stakeholders in addressing pressing environmental and socio-economic concerns by amplifying the voices of those most affected. The powerful imagery created through photovoice workshops can serve as compelling evidence based on stakeholders’ visual collection and narratives, urging decision-makers to recognise and respond to community-identified challenges with more inclusive and locally grounded solutions. Photovoice methodology, therefore, is effective in shedding light on structural socio-environmental issues from a truly participatory, local and personal perspective that often encompasses emotional communication along with rationalised needs.

Photovoice workshop. Photo credit: Hanna Acsády

Adjusting photovoice to local needs

As the MOSAIC team in Environmental Social Science Research Group (ESSRG) - Hanna Acsády, Gergő Berta, Alexandra Czeglédi, Boldizsár Megyesi, György Pataki, Fanni Sall, Kata Varsányi - undertook a unique, methodological challenge: applying and adopting the photovoice method within a small rural community to explore local experiences of agrarian, water-related land-use change and climate impact. The team carefully co-designed the methodological steps through several online and in-person meetings, testing the methodological framework from a multi-disciplinary perspective before finalising it. 

Although established literature on photovoice was closely followed, it quickly became clear that theoretical and methodological models needed to be adjusted before the field visit and series of workshops. Location and logistics, limited availability of participants, local needs for joint discussion, and prefabricated expectations shaped how the method could be unfolded on the ground. Re-designing the method collectively required flexibility, creative improvisation and continuous dialogue to arrive at a common understanding of the workshops’ structure.

Organising workshops 

To launch the process, we organised two workshops involving local stakeholders. The first workshop aimed to introduce the photovoice methodology, clarify the research question, set the framework for the participatory process, and outline the envisioned outcome: a collaborative photo exhibition reflecting local experiences. Importantly, this session was also about validation, it was a moment to check in with participants, to see whether the planned approach resonated with them, and to co-design adjustments where needed.

However, some uncertainties swiftly became apparent. Despite extensive outreach efforts in partnership with the local Cultural Centre, many community members perceived the task of photo-taking as something requiring professional skills. For others, the initiative simply did not seem like an appealing or relevant program. Regardless of careful communication of “no previous experience required”, interest of local participants in the photovoice workshop remained low. 

As a result, professional photographers were the ones most likely to engage, limiting the diversity of perspectives we had originally hoped for, based on the photovoice literature. Given this situation, we had to rethink our approach. Instead of trying to insist on broader participation based on age and gender diversity, we chose to work with a smaller, motivated group: one amateur and two professional photographers who shared their pictures and invited other interested local stakeholders they had been in touch with to discuss their pictures together. Their interest in the workshop was rooted in their previous experiences in organising and visiting local photo exhibitions.

Photovoice workshop. Photo credit: Hanna Acsády

Collecting and selecting photos

Each photographer participant enthusiastically sent us more than 7 pictures, which we initially agreed on, culminating in a collection of more than 100 photographs. Therefore, the MOSAIC research team undertook a careful preselection process, choosing the most captivating and representative photos for the next stage of discussion. Our goal was to keep the collection broad enough to allow multiple interpretations, while ensuring a coherent visual narrative around local land-use changes and environmental shifts. While the problems themselves are well known, this method also proved effective in identifying new locations where the issue is present, places that are familiar to residents but remain unknown to researchers.

One week later, we returned to the village. Before the second workshop, we printed the selected photos and displayed them in a small exhibition space as a teaser. This mini-exhibition sparked curiosity and helped to invite broader community engagement. Not only did our three photographers return for the second workshop, but they also brought along five more locals who were eager to join the conversation. This expansion of the group provided a much-needed diversity of voices and experiences, enriching the discussions immensely.

How the workshop discussions unfolded

The second workshop revolved around the photos themselves. Each discussion followed a simple yet powerful structure: First, the photographer introduced their photo, sharing the story, memory, or inspiration behind it. Then, the group reflected together on the image, what it represented for them, how it connected to personal experiences, and what broader changes it revealed about their environment and community.

To deepen the conversation, and based on artist Fanni Sall’s suggestion, we also introduced a printed map of the village. Participants could locate where each photo had been taken, tying images to specific places and memories. This added a tactile, geographic dimension to the conversation, helping participants to literally "place" their memories and emotions on the map.

As the discussion evolved, it moved far beyond rational observations about land use and climate change. Participants shared emotional narratives about their deep-rooted connections to the land, their relationships with animals, and memories from their childhood. Stories of loss, resilience, and adaptation surfaced, painting a rich, multi-layered picture of how environmental change is woven into everyday life.

Photovoice workshop. Photo credit: Hanna Acsády

Organisers’ testimonies 

Fanni Sall, visual artist, member of a Hungarian ecovillage initiative (Nyim Eco Community), joined the MOSAIC team to support the implementation of the visual method and co-organise the exhibition. She reflected on the process as follows: 

“On one hand, during the joint planning of the process, I tried to put myself in the participants’ shoes as much as possible beforehand, and contribute to the visual aspect of the process in a way that would make it easier for them to reflect on the landscape surrounding them. I thought that having printed photos, rather than just projected ones, along with a map would help create a more relaxed, non-frontal setting, making them feel more at ease.

On the other hand, I wanted to make my connection to the land visible as well, I brought a personal photo of a dried-up spring in Badacsony to the first session of the photo-voice workshop with the researchers, and after that, get to know their livelihood so I could show how their stories affect me. Hopefully, this also encouraged them to reflect more deeply.

The foundation of the exhibition is built on the words and images of the locals, which I, as an artist, try to frame in a way that transforms them into a story the viewers can connect with. Through this, they can better understand what is happening to the inhabitants of the region, or even to those living in other places that are already being more strongly affected by the impacts of climate change.”

Reflections

Working with photovoice in this context was a powerful reminder that methods must be flexible and responsive, and adjustable to local realities. Although our process did not unfold exactly as originally planned, the adaptation led to meaningful, heartfelt discussions and a deeper understanding of the human and non-human perspectives on land-use and climate change. 

Through the lenses of a few dedicated individuals and the voices of their community, we were able to co-create a space where lived experiences, memories, and emotions could be shared and where new insights into unfolding land-use change could emerge.

Authors: Alexandra Czeglédi, Fanni Sall, and Gergő Berta - members of the Mosaic team at the Environmental Social Science Research Group (ESSRG)

Resources

Czeglédi, Alexandra (2023): Cultivating agroecological narratives, Gardeners’ photovoice on underutilised crops’ diversity (photo essay), TABULA, Journal of Hungarian Ethnographic Museum, DOI: 10.54742/tabula.2023.2.03

Freire, Paulo (1970): Pedagogy of the Oppressed (Ramos, M.B., Trans.). New York: Continuum, 2007.

Wang C, Burris MA. (1997): Photovoice: concept, methodology, and use for participatory needs assessment. Health Educ Behav. 1997 Jun;24(3):369-87. doi: 10.1177/109019819702400309. PMID: 9158980.