Paulo Freire, Photovoice, and Social Change

By Richard Jiménez, DrPH
Walden Social Change Fellow
Core Faculty, College of Health Sciences and Public Policy, Walden University

October 25, 2024

Letter from the Director

Walden University continues to celebrate seasons of social change. This year, as we inaugurate Tapestry Research Festival, an annual university-wide event, we especially celebrate the process of research. A well-defined research process helps us consider the Who? What? Where? How? and Why? of a social change issue. It also helps us identify tools which change-makers and communities can use, to tell stories fostering positive social change.

The following essay, written by Dr. Richard Jiménez, a Walden University Core Faculty member, and inaugural Walden Social Change Fellow (2017), highlights the possibilities and promise of using photography as a tool to foster positive social change. Here, Dr. Jiménez explains how Photovoice—a documentary style of photography established by Wang & Burris in 1992, designed to encourage communities to express their own perspectives and voices—reflects, extends, applies, and adapts philosophies advanced by Paulo Freire in 1970.

Learn more about Photovoice: Photovoice: Concept, Methodology, and Use for Participatory Needs Assessment

Jiménez’s observations encourage us to foster positive social change, by making thoughtful use of today’s philosophies and tools, while also consciously acknowledging previous ones.

Keep aspiring,

Lisa Pertillar-Brevard, Ph.D.

Lead Fellow & Director

Center for Social Change

Walden University

 

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The foundation on which Paulo Freire, the Brazilian philosopher and educator, grounded his philosophy of education is the belief that education should not be a one-way transmission of knowledge from teachers to students (What he calls “banking education.”) but a process where learners actively engage in critical dialogue, reflection, and action to challenge oppression and engender real and sustainable positive social change for all.  Freire embraces the educational concept of “conscientization”, meaning developing critical consciousness in individuals and communities to recognize and address the social, economic, and political forces that perpetuate inequalities, such as economic and health disparities. (Freire, 1970). 

In the late 80s while I was at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), I had the privilege of spending several days with Freire, both in and out of class, at one of his “train the trainer” educational dialogue sessions.  Specifically, I wanted to know how Freire’s educational approach for empowerment could be applied to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.  I believe that the AIDS activism we witnessed during the AIDS pandemic such as ACT-UP which resulted in profound changes on the drug development and approval process in the U.S, is, at least in part, influenced and grounded in Freirean philosophy of awareness, critical thinking and action. Freire’s early work with poor illiterate farmers in Brazil was very threatening to the Brazilian powers that be, and this eventually led to his persecution, and his decision to seek asylum in Switzerland for the safety of his family.  Freire, nevertheless, continued to teach and write, influencing thousands of researchers, educators, and practitioners in a variety of fields throughout the world. 

Freire's seminal work, "Pedagogy of the Oppressed," published in 1970, challenged traditional notions of education as a banking system whereby teachers deposit knowledge into passive students. Freire (1970), believed that traditional education often functions as a tool of oppression, where the poor who are suffering economic, educational and health inequalities, are taught to accept their conditions without questioning the underlying power structures, the root cause, and the perpetuation of the status quo favoring those in power.

To counter the status quo and to right inequalities, Freire proposed a pedagogy of liberation that starts with dialogue and reflection on one's lived experiences, enabling individuals to critically analyze their reality and take action to transform it. This is critical pedagogy and andragogy and emphasizes the importance of “praxis”, the integration of theory and practice, in promoting positive and sustainable social change (Freire, 1970).  This philosophy aligns with Walden’s goal of promoting translational research, research that can be applied in the real world to solve real problems in our communities, resulting in positive and sustainable social change. 

To date, Freire's ideas have influenced and shaped educational practices worldwide, including my field of Public Health, inspiring health educators, and Public Health practitioners to adopt participatory approaches that enable the poor and disenfranchised to become agents of their own freedom and lives. In the field of Public Health, Freire’s ideas have led to an emphasis on acknowledging and focusing on the Social Determinants of Health for promoting health equality and justice.  Freire’s original thesis of “pedagogy of the oppressed” emphasizing dialogue, critical thinking, and collective action through policy and political change laid the foundation for methodologies like the now ubiquitous Photovoice approach in health and social sciences research, which combines visual storytelling with social analysis to effect social change.

Developed almost 30 years after the publication of Freire’s seminal work, Photovoice is a participatory action research method that enables communities to document and reflect on their experiences using photography for data collection and critical analysis (Wang & Burris, 1997). Photovoice methodology aligns closely with Freirean educational principles by empowering participants to identify and address issues that affect them, their families, and their communities (Wang, 1999).  Current educators and researchers who use Photovoice have participants take photos of their environment and experiences, then critically discuss the images and what they mean to them.  Freire asked his students to observe their surroundings and lives and draw what they saw, instead of taking photographs. Students would then describe their drawings, what they saw and what they felt. The drawings served as a tool and starting point for critical analysis, reflection, and action.    

Participatory qualitative research methodology, using Photovoice usually involves three steps:  First, participants are trained in basic photography skills, Second, they take photographs that capture their experiences and perspectives on an issue or problem, and third, these images are shared with others, including community stakeholders, to stimulate dialogue, raise awareness, and promote positive social change (Wang & Burris, 1997). Freirean pedagogy and Photovoice share core principles for promoting positive social change. Both methodologies emphasize empowerment, critical reflection and dialogue, and social transformation.  (Wang and Burris, 1997; Wang, 1999)

Many studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of Photovoice in addressing various social issues, from healthcare disparities to environmental justice (Catalani & Minkler, 2010; Wang & Redwood-Jones, 2001). Wang and Redwood-Jones (2001) used Photovoice to empower women living with HIV/AIDS in rural China, enabling them to document their daily challenges and advocate for improved healthcare services. Catalani and Minkler (2010) applied Photovoice to engage youth in identifying and addressing environmental health concerns in their communities. Through the Photovoice process, youth participants raised awareness about pollution and collaborated with local stakeholders to develop strategies for improving the environmental.  Some of our Walden students have used Photovoice successfully as a research tool for their doctoral capstones, resulting in relevant and meaningful research promoting positive and sustainable social change (Orlando, 2019; Parker-Maneja, 2021). 

Paulo Freire's contributions to education and social change continue to influence current research and educational methodologies such as Photovoice. By integrating Freirean principles of critical pedagogy, conscientization, and praxis, Photovoice enables individuals and communities who are experiencing inequalities, to become aware of their surroundings and to critically analyze the environments of risk to their wellbeing in which they live.  Empowering our students and ourselves as educators to promote critical thinking for positive and sustainable social change, will go a long way in helping us reach our institutional goal of improving the health and welfare of the communities we serve.