0:00:00.0 Sally Laskey: Welcome to Resource on the Go, a podcast from the National Sexual Violence Resource Center on understanding, responding to and preventing sexual abuse and assault. I'm Sally Laskey, NSVRC's Evaluation Coordinator. On this episode, you will hear from members of a team that developed a culturally responsive and anti-violence centric toolkit on how to use photovoice in sexual violence prevention work. Joining me are Lisa Huendorf, she/her, education specialist at a federally qualified health center in Northeast Ohio. Eliza Sabo, she/her, OSU Sexual Violence Advocacy Coordinator with the Sexual Assault Response Network of Central Ohio. And from Photovoice Worldwide, Erica Belli, she/her, educator and project manager. And Stephanie Lloyd, she/her, consulting lead.

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0:01:15.5 SL: Welcome to Resource on the Go. I'm so excited to have all of you here today and talk about one of my favorite topics, photovoice. To get us started, I wanted to just see if you could introduce yourselves to our listeners. And Lisa, could you start us off? 

0:01:36.4 Lisa Huendorf: Sure. Hi, I'm Lisa Huendorf. I use she/her pronouns, and I'm an education specialist from a federally qualified health center in Northeast Ohio.

0:01:43.7 Eliza Sabo: I can go next. My name is Eliza Sabo. I use she/her pronouns. I work at the Ohio State University, although I'm working for Franklin County's Rape Crisis Center, SARNCO. I'm the OSU Sexual Violence Advocacy Coordinator, and I'm really excited to be here today. Thank you, Sally.

0:02:01.2 SL: Thanks for being here.

0:02:03.5 Erica Belli: And my name is Erica Belli. I'm a photographer and participatory photography facilitator based in Italy. I'm part of Photovoice Worldwide's team as an educator and project manager. I specialize in art space methodologies in connection to photovoice. I'm very excited to be here. Thank you for inviting us.

0:02:19.7 SL: Thank you.

0:02:21.6 Stephanie Lloyd: And hi everyone. I'm Stephanie Lloyd, Consulting Lead for Photovoice Worldwide and a program evaluator and hobby photographer of many years, and someone with a deep passion for participatory and equitable evaluation. So thank you for having me.

0:02:37.3 SL: Oh, we're so honored. We've been talking a lot about photovoice for the last few years, and I'll provide links to folks in our show notes to some of those previous discussions. But Erica, could you kind of bring us into this discussion by describing the theoretical frameworks behind photovoice? 

0:03:00.1 EB: Absolutely. So let's start from defining photovoice as a participatory research method that combines photography and storytelling. Photovoice can create a space for individuals or communities to represent their experiences, perspective, aspirations, putting cameras in the hands of people with valuable lived experience. It can be a great tool to engage marginalized communities as it creates an opportunity to voice concerns, to raise awareness about social issues and to address power imbalances, and not only but also to advocate for change. And while there's no definitive list of theoretical frameworks exclusively associated with photovoice, there are several theories and concept that shaped its approach and application. So among some of the theoretical frameworks, I want to mention Paulo Freire's critical pedagogy, the feminist theory, visual anthropology and participatory action research.

0:03:52.2 EB: The notion of co-researchers, which some call participants, for example, stems from Freire's pedagogy of the oppressed. In his book, Freire identifies learners as co-creators of knowledge, and he later used participatory drawing as a research method jump-starting visual contributions as a valuable notion for research. We live in 2023 in a world where virtually anyone has a camera in their hands every day, and the visual dimension is more important than ever. So I think visual anthropology and photovoice understood that visual representation can evoke responses, emotional responses, stimulate dialogue, convey nuanced meanings ahead of the times, really. And I think photovoice is an extremely contemporary tool, which is why we were so proud of working together with OAESV in this toolkit, and knowing more communities would have the chance to participate in photovoice in the future.

0:04:51.8 SL: It's really exciting, and we immediately reached out when we heard about this collaborative work that you all did. Since I'm the one hosting today, of course, I'm gonna be asking about evaluation since that's the focus of my work at the NSVRC. And I was wondering, Stephanie, if you could share more specifically about how photovoice has been used in evaluation.

0:05:18.2 SL: Yeah, absolutely. So as you know, evaluation is a systematic process of determining the extent to which objectives are achieved. So when we think about photovoice and evaluation, this could be in two ways. It's really been used as a data collection method to evaluate a program, or a facilitator may want to evaluate the participant experience in a photovoice process. So when we think about evaluating a program using photovoice, a lot of times it's been used as a mixed methods evaluation tools where photos and texts could provide insights from participants that dig deeper than those that are captured in closed ended surveys, and expand on other parts of the evaluation. So when it's used with other methods, photovoice can be used to expand on information that was gained in surveys, or it can inform interview protocols. So the topics and themes that are coming out can then lead to additional data collection.

0:06:15.8 SL: It can also be used and it's been used as a pre-post evaluation tool. So participants are asked to take photos or talk about their current experience or understanding of a program or an intervention, and then, again, afterwards. So in this case, photovoice projects can be run at two points in time with the same participants, ideally, if you can do that, or photovoice can be used retrospectively and participants can identify key changes that they feel have occurred as a result of the initiative. And in this, when it's done pre-post, then baseline and follow-up photos and captions can be compared and contrasted to really understand how participants are working through this program, or what types of things they've gotten from the intervention. Some photovoice facilitators have used a variety of feedback mechanisms, and this can be pre-established scales or survey questionnaires to understand the impact of the project or change in attitudes or behaviors as a result of participation in a project or even viewing the exhibit.

0:07:21.8 SL: So for one project we consulted on, we asked viewers for their reactions using a two-question survey, and we created a QR code that went right on the photovoice posters. So everyone at the event that was viewing the Photovoice project was encouraged to share their thoughts about what they were seeing, how they were feeling, how this resonated, and this was a way to elicit community feedback on the project. And this project actually happened in-person and online, so it was a way to kind of gather information from viewers no matter how they were viewing the project, which was really exciting.

0:07:57.8 SL: Thank you for that overview and that specific example. I know we wanna jump into hearing about more examples about how photovoice has been used. And I know that the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence worked with Photovoice Worldwide to provide workshops and courses about photovoice and its implementation for local programs throughout Ohio. Lisa and Eliza, what were some important takeaways from those trainings? 

0:08:31.4 ES: Well, it was interesting. So we had the workshops, we had the trainings. A lot of us were also involved with the creation of the toolkit, both with content editing and line edits. And then, on top of that, many of us, including myself, were running programs, running photovoice, and for myself, that was the first time. So it was just a really exciting time because there was so much chatter and talk about photovoice. The project that I ended up working on was with one of our middle schools. So this was back when I was the Youth Prevention Coordinator. So we worked with a group of sixth graders, and I had been working with this school and part of our conversation, part of the dialogue with the counselors in this and also with the counselors and the teachers had to do specifically with the idea of consent. And that there was a lot of touching going on without consent. There was conversations, there were conversations about consent, but the connection wasn't being made for this particular group of sixth graders.

0:09:32.9 ES: And so the initial question, after I had proposed the idea of a Photovoice project, was, "Can we do it on consent?" And so we formed a group of six of us to lead the Photovoice project. And very quickly, I think the idea of letting the students decide what they wanted to take photos of came up and was broadly accepted. We ended up with a project that focused on belonging, and the felt sense of belonging or not belonging, and not just within the school, but in their own lives. And as a part of that, though, of course, there's a whole aspect in our toolkit, and then, of course, as a part of running a project, that discusses ethical photography. And in the conversation of ethical photography, we really did get into boundaries and consent. And we challenged these students to be out there having these conversations about the photographs they were going to take, and then also allowing them to give their own consent to be a part of the project and not just a part of the project, but a part of the show at the end of the project.

0:10:40.0 ES: So, there was a thread throughout the project that dealt with consent, even though the focus of our research and our investigatory photography with the students had to do with belonging. So it was a really interesting project. We had, in the end, nine sessions in the classroom. Some of those sessions were in the arts classroom, some of them were in the regular classroom. We focused in on art and composition. We talked a lot about boundaries and consent and ethical photography. We also talked about social justice and talked quite a bit about what that was and just that concept of social justice and how to speak truth to power, which is another aspect of our toolkit. And then, in the end, we ended up with this gorgeous arts exhibit on belonging. We also were able to take the kids on a field trip to the Arts High School where they got to hear folks who are just a tiny bit older than them talking about what it is to express yourself with your visuals rather than your actual voice.

0:11:38.5 ES: And we were able to talk a documentary photographer and to coming to speak to us and she did an incredible job of walking the students through the five senses. So what does belonging taste like? What does it feel like? What does it smell like? And that really changed what they ended up doing with their cameras. And so, I guess what I'd like to say is something that had to do with what Stephanie said earlier. In our survey questionnaire for our students, we did have a pre and post. We looked at how much did they learn about composition, how much did they learn about photography. But then, of course, we also looked at how much did they learn about social justice, how much did they learn about consent? And how much did they really get a sense, both for themselves and for others within the group, about how important belonging is to a sense of community and a sense of safety? So those results were really interesting too.

0:12:33.8 ES: But before I pass the baton over to Lisa, I wanna say, for me as the coordinator of all of this, the most amazing conversations happened the night of the show, when we opened the show and we really did a proper show opening. It was fun. We had fake champagne and crackers and cheese and all kinds of what you would expect to see at a proper gallery opening, and the kids loved it. Many of them had never framed a piece of their artwork before. So to be in a show was kind of monumental, and there were tears and there was a lot of emotion and a lot of conversation. But I had three different parents come up to me and say, "I don't know what you guys were doing when it came to consent, because I know this was all about belonging and the conversation was about belonging. But my child said to me the other day, 'I wish you had asked me for consent, mom,'" or, they said, "I would like to talk."

0:13:28.3 ES: They were at the table. Another one said, "We were at the dinner table and my son said, 'I really feel like we need to talk more about consent and when you guys come into my bedroom, 'cause I feel like no one really respects the boundary that I tried to put into place about knocking before you enter my bedroom.'" So for me, these conversations were so unexpected and so beautiful, and so important. Anyway, yeah, Lisa has some really interesting programs that she wants to talk about as well.

0:14:00.5 LH: There's a lot to process with all that you shared there, Eliza. That was amazing.

0:14:04.0 ES: Thank you.

0:14:05.6 LH: 'Cause we knew about your project, but I think you just went into so much more detail and some of the takeaways. That was really interesting. I kind of wanna simmer on that for a minute actually...

0:14:14.8 ES: Oh, of course. I'm happy to...

0:14:15.7 LH: After we finish this conversation. That's amazing.

0:14:17.5 ES: Yes, of course.

0:14:19.7 LH: So regarding the trainings from Photovoice Worldwide, I think they were really helpful, 'cause we came in to learn about how to facilitate, but we also participated in several different mini versions of the Photovoice projects, which I almost completely used in one of my projects that I facilitated, to have the students practice before they did the full process on their own, taking their photos and whatnot. So I really appreciated the trainings and it gave a lot of just those insights and the background and the reasons you do this step or that step. So highly recommend there, good job to their facilitation skills. And then also with the alliance working on the toolkit, I know Eliza and I both had a big part in suggestions and just edits and making things more clear.

0:15:08.9 LH: So that was really helpful just to go through it, again, to get more of the reasoning and how to go through the process, but also just making grammatical changes and visual changes. I know that we had quite a few calls on that going through the whole thing, which turned out to be obviously an awesome resource that I would definitely use for myself when I do future projects, but especially for someone who is new to doing photovoice. So I think that that's a really cool outcome that we were able to participate in.

0:15:42.8 SL: Yeah, it's very exciting. I know you mentioned two things, Lisa, that I think are important. Like the practice, actually doing it, I think is important for folks that then want to facilitate the use of it later. And then also to hear too about how these projects can... I kind of got goosebumps hearing about how this grew in the community. So it wasn't... The story of that sixth grade boy and what was happening at home and imagine that it with all of the children and where it might be a conversation they might have with someone when they're walking down the street, or other conversations happening in the schools, seeing how it really can spark a lot of conversation and changes in behavior even is really exciting. Lisa, did you wanna talk more about your programs or would this be a good time for me to maybe follow up with everyone and ask them more about ethical photography and what that means to them and how that's come up in some of your work? It's up to you. I wanna jump into hearing about your specific projects you've worked on too, Lisa.

0:17:07.9 LH: Yeah, I can do that quick. So I facilitated two separate projects that were extremely different from one another. So the first one I did was actually with elementary school students, the youngest actually being 6 up to I think 12-ish years old. And so we didn't have the access to camera phones or getting them actual photography materials. So we decided to have them draw and write their captions because it was also more of a skill building practice. So the agency that had the youth in this afterschool program wanted them to practice things like just writing in sentences and all of that basic skills they need for school anyways. So we focused on feelings and coping skills. So I had them identify their feelings when they were at home, when they were at school, and when they were at this agency's after-school program. And then if they ever had feelings of nervousness or anxiety or discomfort, how do they cope with those and who do they go to if they need help coping? 

0:18:04.7 LH: So that kind of brought out a lot of those different activities and different skills the students already had. So they were able to illustrate some of those and then we turned it into a little display board for the agency to keep, to show how they felt and the coping skills that they had when they were at that agency. And then I also made a report for them to use for whatever purpose they might have for recruitment or funding, showing how the students clearly enjoyed being in this program, in this agency. I think there were two people at least who actually identified their safe adult to go to as being the facilitators there. So that was really impactful, I think, from, at least from my point of view. I would be glad to be someone safe adult. And then the second one I did was really sort of three projects. So I had volunteers from that first program, we're at a local high school, and so we just kind of jumped to their high school to have them do their own photo voice project.

0:19:03.2 LH: So there were three classes of students who each got to choose their own topic that they wanted to do photovoice on. So one was on finding beauty in unforeseen places, one was on mental health, it was my mental health, and then another one was on finding... It was about inequities that they saw in their community. So they could have the opportunity to choose a photo that was showing an inequity or showing how to fix that, a positive mental health or a less positive mental health, so I encouraged them to take more than one photo. So that was a really interesting process 'cause we did it super fast. So I only had about a month with these students, a couple of sessions per week if that, so I had to do a lot of the background work of pulling out themes from their practice rounds, critiquing their captions, things like that, and we had some really cool portfolios at the end for those groups as well.

0:19:58.5 LH: So the mental health group, they were able to display their photos in the local library for May that year as Mental Health Month is in May. All of the students got to participate in an art show that the school happened to be holding right around that time, which worked out pretty well. And I went to the show and had ballots, and each person that walked by, I encouraged them to vote for the one that they felt illustrated the theme the best, the caption made the most, like just picking which one they felt was not just the best photo, but the point behind the photos as well. And so that student actually won a scholarship that was provided from my agency as well as that school contributed as they were all senior students. So that was presented at a senior awards night. That person found out they got the scholarships. That was really cool.

0:20:44.0 LH: And then, the very end, I made all of the photos into a virtual art show, just a video, using an online platform to create just a short video where you could see the photos and the captions and the purpose that they could use on their website or social media and just let them have that for future use. So I learned a lot. They were both, as I said, very different. And I had to learn a lot as I was going through working with a 6 year old and then working with a senior in high school, it was a big learning experience definitely. But I really enjoy it, and I think I have another one planned for this year, so we'll see if that's somewhere in the middle, who knows what may come.

0:21:21.2 SL: Yeah, well, I wonder too, if you could share, like for folks that are thinking about using photovoice, what kind of skills did you bring to the table or did you find that you needed to lean on to be successful in the projects? 

0:21:38.0 LH: A lot of it is just thinking on your feet, being able to help them process and help them think without just telling them. 'Cause I know when I was first proposing the photovoice projects, you can't... I don't know what it's gonna be. Like it's hard to propose it to a stakeholder if I don't know what it's gonna be because it is participatory. So the participants are the ones that should be picking what they want their topic to be. Like Eliza said, you want to talk about consent, but they wanna talk about belonging, so how can we kind of mix those together? So a lot of it is the processing, and depending on how much time, like I said, working with very young students and working in a very fast process, I had to do a lot of the background work. So I would love to have a longer or more time spent with them in the future to let them do that critical thinking of like, well, what does this mean? Does this really connect to the theme of the prompt or the question that you're asking them? So that's what I would say is being very open, being very flexible, and just letting the process happen, I guess.

0:22:44.7 SL: Yeah. Are any other skills you would add, Eliza? I know you're an artist, but do you have to be an artist to come into this work? 

0:22:50.5 ES: No, absolutely. You do not, and I think that's part of the fun of it. It was fun for me because I am an artist. I am a former professional photographer, and I'm a painter, so of course, the idea of an arts-based methodology, an arts-based needs assessment of helping young people define their artistic voices, that was thrilling for me. But you don't have to be a photographer. You don't even have to be an artist at all to implement or use this, and in fact, I would say some of the strongest folks on our teams didn't have that experience, and of course, the students that we're talking about, sixth graders, I'm hoping to use this at the university level soon, but we're talking about sixth graders for the project that I led, they have some exposure to using cameras. But one of the things I think we have to look for when we're talking about like ethical photography and the skills that the project team should keep coming back to is, are we creating an equitable experience for the researchers, for the photographers? 

0:23:54.2 ES: And actually presenting it to folks as you are going to be a researcher kind of takes some of the stress out of like, "Oh, I'm not an artist," which a lot of people wanna say. "I'm not an artist. I don't really feel like I'm gonna excel at this project," but yet being a photographer is a part of it, but being a researcher is really a part of it too. And so some of the students leaned into the idea, "I'm a researcher." Some of them leaned into the idea, "I'm a photographer." But when we talk about equity, I wanted them to have the same amount of enthusiasm and excitement, if we could, for the project, and I think we got there by presenting it in those two different ways, but also, some of these students don't yet have cell phones at that age, or they have very limited use to it. There were a lot of people with older cell phones. Cell phones weren't gonna work for us. They weren't gonna work for us, not in a way that felt comfortable or correct.

0:24:44.2 ES: And so what we decided to do instead was to use disposable cameras and we used black and white disposable cameras to really just level that playing field for everyone. And then, what we hadn't thought of, and this is one of the things we learned along the way, was that these students didn't even know how to hold that camera up to their faces, which was fun for us as adults, 'cause we were like, "Let me show you how to do that." And then also fun for the students, because to them it just felt like this retro piece of ancient technology. And so we all had a lot of fun learning and teaching and experiencing the winding of the film and everything else. We found a really cool video online that actually takes one of those disposable cameras and rips them apart into like 27 different pieces so the students could kind of understand what was going on inside the camera since it was such a new concept for them.

0:25:38.9 ES: But yeah, I would say that just coming back again and again, when you ask about skill, Sally, to the idea of are we creating an equitable experience for everyone, and are we allowing for their voices to be heard? How can we make it even more comfortable so that they can gain expressing themselves when they've only got 27 exposures and they're used to kind of unlimited pictures on their parent's camera or their camera? So, yeah, but I would say too, as you're building the team, I wouldn't recommend to necessarily leading one of these on your own. If you can, build the team of people to do it with, then the whole thing will just be more rich for the contribution of several people. But as adults, we just had to keep reminding ourselves to step back and let the children lead as much as possible, which was beautiful to see, yeah.

0:26:31.1 SL: That is beautiful. Erica and Stephanie, are there other skills that you focus on in the training work that you do, or is there something that kind of popped up in the development of the toolkit that maybe we wanted to lean into that is maybe a skill set that folks that are doing sexual violence prevention have been developing or maybe would be a stretch for some folks? I'm just wondering, specific to the community that this toolkit was created for if there were, are there any other skills that popped up as being important to build? 

0:27:08.5 SL: Yeah, I think in a facilitation space of this, and depending on the nature of the topic, it's really important to have some of those extra tools, I'll say. So some icebreakers that bring people in, some examples of how people can stay safe and what they can do, some scripts about the project so that they understand how to explain photovoice, that's part of staying safe, some keeping, especially when you're working with young people or even adults, kind of keeping things moving along and keeping things light but also knowing that this is a sensitive topic. And so I think as facilitators, we have, when we're designing a photovoice session, we're thinking, "Okay, this is where we wanna get to today, but how are we gonna do that and what are some ways that we can do that and what are some supports that we can offer?"

0:27:57.8 SL: So it really is about having all of those different pieces, and you may have three different things that you're thinking about as I say icebreaker, but those can be used throughout different sessions, and you may only use one of them, or you may only... Or you may get to all three because, whoa, we're having a day where people are needing to kind of get together with the group and do some of that learning and sharing, 'cause that is part of photovoice. Is bringing the group together and doing that group learning and that group showing. So it's important to have some of these extra tools that aren't photovoice-related necessarily, to make sure that then you're seeing the photovoice outcomes that you wanna see.

0:28:40.7 SL: And then, I would agree with Eliza, having a team around you, so making sure we always have multiple supporting partners, so that if somebody does, is experiencing something or wants to talk or chat privately, they have somewhere to go, naming that upfront, making sure you're doing that. So putting all of those background pieces in place so that things can run smoothly and people can feel safe and feel like they have what they need throughout each photovoice session.

0:29:08.1 EB: Exactly. And, I mean, until now, so many great things were shared, it's hard to top. But I know that there is like one skill that as a facilitator, we're always working on no matter how many years you've been working in this position and it's your listening skills. You're trying not to project, you're trying not to correct, you're trying not to interject, and you wanna approach this work with curiosity. So whenever someone is speaking their heart out or whenever they're showing you their pictures, you don't go in with any preconception about it and just kind of are ready to completely fully listen in, 'cause that's really when things starts to, I think, unfold in a different way.

0:29:50.1 SL: And isn't that the key to almost all of the work that we are doing in this field, so thank you for naming it so eloquently. So as you all came together and were working on this toolkit, what was most important to each of you? 

0:30:07.7 SL: So I think for us at Photovoice Worldwide, we really are about bringing people together around this method and using it in their context. So with any project or collaborative work we do, we wanna make sure that we're first thinking about our participants and the communities being served. I mean, it was really important to us that this was a fully collaborative process so that we develop the toolkit with our partners and not for them, and to create something usable. So we wanted this toolkit to really inform and support people in a practical way. It's not something pretty that sits on the shelf. And we did this, but it's really wanted it to be something that you can pick up, you don't know anything about photovoice or you've heard a little bit about it, but we wanted to include examples and prompts and ways to adapt the method, because we know that you may not be working with the same group of people.

0:31:03.8 SL: So making it something that was really, really tangible and that could help people turn a theoretical idea like, "Oh, I might wanna do a Photovoice project into action," like, "Oh, we have something that we can run with. We have the scripts. We have the session outlines, and we are ready to put this into action," and that was really important for us to make sure that it was something usable, that people would get something out of it.

0:31:34.8 ES: It took about a year for the whole project to come together, and earlier, we were chatting briefly, and I think it's amazing that it was all done virtually too. I think that's pretty cool, over the breath of two continents. But I wanted to add that, Stephanie, I think we achieved that. We really did. I came in very green to the project team for the toolkit, had never been a part of this Photovoice project before, and so from a content point of view, my hand was raised to say, "But if I've never spoken with the school about this before, how do I have that initial conversation with the stakeholders? How do I explain this if I've never done it before too? How do they take the risk and give me their incredibly valuable time to do this experiment, to run this project?"

0:32:19.5 ES: And I think our toolkit is useful for those who are very green and have never done a Photovoice project, and I think that it continues to grow and evolve, and it's also useful for those who have done, but perhaps, to what Lisa was saying before, have a really different kind of Photovoice project that they're going to start. So yeah, I don't know. I think we did it, Stephanie.

0:32:42.5 SL: Yay, I'm happy to hear.

0:32:43.3 LH: I thought it was important too that it related back to the prevention piece, 'cause obviously photovoice can be used in many different ways, but that our field was about prevention, and I know the Alliance was looking for it to be used in people in our similar positions. So that's something that I think I had in my mind going through that. But I also could add to what Stephanie said, that I think it is something pretty that could sit on your shelf 'cause we did make it very pretty. I know that was one of the focus that we all had was, it's not a report. It's not this big long like dictionary. So it is very visually appealing, so it's much easier to flow through. You're not gonna have to like sit down and like torture to read through it. So I did appreciate the detail that everyone put into it, especially on the design side, with making it easy to follow, easy to find what you're looking for, and it is, if you know, fun to look through, I think.

0:33:36.9 EB: Thank you, and a shout out to our graphic designer, Ania, then. I wanted to top on this saying that it was very important for us to also include diverse voices. So it was really built in collaboration between Photovoice Worldwide and OAESV, and also we ran a lit review so we could include articles, so that we could include citation and quotes and different examples, because we know that we don't know it all, and that what you really need to succeed is ready to be able to grab and pull from all different examples and all different people doing this work worldwide.

0:34:14.5 SL: Absolutely. And that brings up too that going to a training, using this toolkit, doing a couple of photovoice projects, doesn't mean the learning's gonna end, right? Because it really is context and community-specific, so every experience is going to be shaped differently, implemented differently. The goals will be different. So it really is something where you can have the core skills, but then build different skills as you do the work in different communities for sure. And I love that the visual piece, which is part of making prevention visible, came through in the toolkit as well. I think we've talked a lot about how you think the toolkit can help folks in the field. I was just wondering, as we kind of start to close our discussion, what tips you would give preventionists that are exploring photovoice right now? 

0:35:23.0 EB: I can go first maybe, and I would say that, two key aspects to consider when you're embarking in your first photovoice journey are really flexibility, as Eliza was saying before, and willingness to meet your participants where they are. Photovoice involves a good amount of organization, which means you need to prepare things ahead of time, but you're also working with people. So you need to be ready to change your plan in a dynamic adaptable manner, making sure that you're actually meeting your participant needs before your own. That's gonna also mean, for example, that you might want to reconsider the themes and questions, like Eliza, bringing up that you have in mind for the project and develop those more in collaboration with your community and your core researchers. Not necessarily what you wanna talk about is what they want to need to explore, so it is really important that you ask and consult with them.

0:36:18.8 SL: Yeah. Any other tips? Go ahead.

0:36:20.9 ES: So one tip is to build your evaluation at the beginning. Don't wait till the end. Make sure that you're thinking about what you want to evaluate as the students are, and to Erica's point, you're meeting them where they're at, and they're deciding what project is going to look like that you're also kind of building the evaluation from the beginning. If you can do pre and post tests, it was really amazing to see that. Of course, that might not always be possible. But I wanna also say that, as you're building your timeline out, or maybe you're reverse building it out, you're figuring out, "Okay, so the show is gonna be this day. We're gonna take the show down this day," and then you're building it back to figure out what you have time for, that you also don't forget to build time in to celebrate.

0:37:01.9 ES: Because, this project, whether it goes quickly, like one of Lisa's projects was a very condensed timeline, or you're doing this over the space of two or three months, at the end, you really do need to celebrate. It's so worth celebrating. There's so much to celebrate. And you will, I think I can promise you this, you will have grown close together, the researchers, the team itself. It's a really incredible process for building community. So it's kind of its own by product no matter what the topic might be. So yeah, don't forget to celebrate. Definitely.

0:37:39.7 LH: I would add the building rapport as well. So both the groups that I worked with, I had never met any of these human beings before, so we had to kind of build that trust before I'm telling you to go out and draw things or take photos for a reason I'm telling you you should. So with the littler kiddos, I brought snacks, obviously, was the first way to get them to like you when it's... Well, I guess really anybody likes snacks, especially the young ones. And then with my older students, we did a lot of practice. We did a lot of get to know yous every day. I'd have everyone go around and share their names, and I didn't like fun fact, but I try to make it more fun than that, like their favorite memory, something that was more than just, "Hey, I'm Lisa. I like the color purple." So I tried to build in some of those team building, get to know yous, just to break the ice a little bit more, and I think that that really helped since they were technically in a class too for my group. So, making it less clinical, less school, I think was helpful to open up their imaginations a little bit.

0:38:42.5 SL: And at a really practical level, I just wanna remind folks that with qualitative methods, a small sample size is acceptable. We know that sometimes starting a Photovoice project can feel really daunting, and a small sample size with photovoice is also necessary because when you think about one participant can bring 10-15 photos, and then times that by your number of participants, and then add the captions, add the conversation you're having, it's a lot of data. So it doesn't have to be this huge grandiose project. It can really, it can also enhance what you're already doing, so some of those things where you're putting some of photovoice elements into another evaluation or another aspect of what's already happening.

0:39:28.9 SL: We're working with a client right now and they wanted to implement but we're feeling a little bit stressed about it and so we're doing a small pilot project and then we'll learn from this pilot project and we'll make decisions going forward. And so that might spur another project or more information or data gathering, but it really is about starting small, and that's okay because it's qualitative research and it's meant to be small. The other thing I would add is really to try to include your participants as much as possible and as much as you're willing. Of course, there's different contexts and different abilities for participants, but we ran a project recently where we checked in in the middle, and this is with young adults, and we checked in about the photo-taking prompts to see if they resonated, if there were changes that needed to be made before they kept taking photos.

0:40:20.0 SL: So this was an opportunity for them to shape the project and think about what was most important, kind of where they wanted to keep going. And another project we did with middle school girls, we wanted... We asked them, how did they wanna share this information? And so it wasn't... We ended up not doing a full exhibit or art show as so many photovoice projects do, but they wanted to create a video. So we created a video, and we did a presentation for family and friends of showing a viewing of that video, but then it lives online and can be shared. So there's lots of opportunities within the steps of photovoice to allow your participants to take the lead. So really, as a facilitator, you don't have to know it all. You don't have to do it all. Really can get your participants involved and ask them what they want, what they wanna see, what they're hoping for, and they can help you shape the project and work on it with you.

0:41:18.1 SL: That is fantastic. I hope that the conversation we had today will help build curiosity of folks in the field. Thank you for putting participants at the center of your work. I wanna thank you all for sharing your expertise and your leadership around this. We're really excited about the toolkit. We know that it was a lot of work and it really was a communal effort. If there's anyone else you wanna give a shout out to, before we say goodbye for today, I just wanna give the space for you all to mention anyone else that was part of the project that you wanted to acknowledge.

0:42:00.7 EB: I would like to say a huge thank you to Sarah Ferrato at OAESV. She was just a wonderful, wonderful person to work with. Her professionalism really went above and beyond for his project. So. Thank you so much, Sarah. And then also wanted to mention the rest of our team that worked on this, Dr. Laura Lorenz, our Co-Founder, Diana Weggler, our editor, and again, Ania Puciata as our graphic designer.

0:42:24.9 SL: Thank you.

0:42:26.3 ES: I would like to thank the Ohio Department of Health and the Rape Prevention Education Grant that funded this project, as well as Ohio Health Corporation and SARNCO for their ongoing support and for giving me a job. And finally, I'd like to thank, in particular, Columbus Public Schools, the largest public school system in the State of Ohio, and within that school district, so many people helped out with our project, but in particular the teachers, the counselors, the students and the families of Indianola Informal K-8. So thank you for that. I appreciate you giving me the chance to say those words of gratitude. And as a point of clarification, I wanna say that the students didn't vote in some sort of democratic process on the idea of belonging, but although the initial project members really wanted the project to be about consent, as we spoke more and more about this particular group of students, it became really clear that they had been in conversation for many months about the topic of belonging, so belonging is the topic that we went with for the project, experiment with arts-based methodology.

0:43:44.7 SL: I'll give a final shout out to Lee Anne from the Photovoice Worldwide team who worked on our lit review and supported this project and really helped us pull in some of those great rich examples from the literature, which is invaluable to have in the toolkit. So, thank you.

0:44:02.9 SL: Thank you. Well, I'm gonna close. Thank you all for your time, and we're gonna include additional resources, some blog posts, some other podcasts that we've done on the topic, and we just encourage folks to check it out and let us know if you have any questions or need more access to things in the lit review and other places. We wanna be a place where folks can come to share those ideas, but also get some examples and other ideas. So thank you all so much for joining us, and I hope that we'll have more and more discussions about photovoice in the future.

0:44:45.9 EB: Thank you, Sally.

0:44:48.1 SL: Thank you.

0:44:49.4 ES: Thank you so much.

0:44:50.3 LH: Thank you for having us.

0:44:52.5 SL: Thanks for listening to this episode of Resource On The Go. For more resources and information about preventing sexual assault, visit our website at nsvrc.org. Need help accessing research on this topic, connect with us by emailing resources@nsvrc.org.

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