Framing Conversations
Photographs about religion and spirituality can be quite personal. Participants might otherwise be reticent to disclose details about very intimate domains of everyday life related to their faith. Fortunately, interfaith photovoice gives people the final say about what they photograph and the information they share about them.
Photo 1. Participants sharing the stories behind their photographs in small groups (project location: Richmond).
Composing a photograph on a topic of one’s choice within broad guidelines (e.g., religion in everyday life) helps to curb anxiety about what to say when it is one’s turn to talk during a photovoice meeting. Someone who connects with God through nature may bring photos of a sunset, flowers, and animals. They have time before the meeting to put thought into what they want to share about these photographs. When it is their turn, they have a sense of what they want to say, and their photos will help communicate their stories.
Because photovoice creates the conditions for participants to shape the content of conversations, the photographs they compose indicate what is ‘fair game’ in interfaith photovoice. Even though someone may willingly enter a social setting where relationships and discourse are expected, this does not imply that one’s life is an open book. Kelly described the way photographs help to set comfortable boundaries for self-disclosure.
So I think by having the photos, it’s this other thing that you’re talking about and your stories come out, versus asking me very personal questions that I’m not comfortable with. We all know why we’re there. We’re all aligned to being there to talk about these pictures. It gives me a forum to talk about stuff I want to talk about, and to ask you questions about things I’m curious about.
Not knowing what one will be asked to talk about at an interfaith gathering can induce a certain amount of anxiety. When participants are afforded agency to decide what to photograph, their decisions also shape the content of conversations. In effect, their photos represent a kind of permission, an indication to other participants of what they are comfortable talking about.
Photo 2. “My ring shows how I decided to commit myself to not have sex until marriage and my ring shows my commitment to Him and my promise” —Jessica.
When Jessica introduced a photograph of her purity ring as an example of how her beliefs show up in her everyday life, she invited a conversation about what is pictured. It is as though she was saying, “I’m comfortable talking about this topic and you can ask me more-or-less what you want as long as it is relevant to my photograph.” Through their photographs, photovoice participants grant permission to one another to have certain kinds of conversations by using the frame of a photograph to limit the kinds of personal information one discloses.
Activity 4 | Religion in Everyday Life
In what ways do your religious beliefs, practices, and values show up in your everyday life? Using your smartphone or digital camera, compose at least 3-5 photographs that show the ways your religion is at work in everyday life. You could take a focused approach by limiting the photos to a particular domain of daily life. If your group is made up of co-workers (or fellow students), you might want to use a prompt specific to that context. For example, In what ways do your religious beliefs, practices, and values show up at work (or school).
Some people find it helpful to spend 15-30 minutes reflecting on a prompt before snapping their photos. Jot down a list of ways religion shows up in your everyday life. Note how, where, and when you could photograph ideas on your list. As you go about your everyday life, compose photos of the tangible ways you live your religion. Be as straightforward or creative as you want.
During your meeting with your interfaith photovoice collaborator(s), take turns showing one another your photos and telling the stories behind each image. Use the S.H.O.W.’D. framework (Blog 2 in this series) to guide your conversation. At this point the first three questions may be most useful. Some find it helpful to answer each of the questions in the framework, while others find it more useful to simply have them in mind as they discuss their photos.
Talk about the similarities and differences you see in one another’s photos. Conclude your conversation by sharing an insight you gleaned from your meeting.