Article
Reflective Photobooth – A way to visualise, and challenge perceptions and representations of distanced social groups
Visual Studies
(2020)
Abstract
Taken-for-granted knowledge about people from other social groups is a key challenge for overcoming stereotypes. This article describes a novel arts-based research method to visualise participants’ frames of distanced social groups and aims to trigger reflections among them. The Reflective Photobooth invites participants to dress up as members of distanced social groups, stage a scene, produce pictures, answer prompting questions, and discuss their visualisations. We argue that the artistic re-enactment that underlies the visualisation process can attract diverse groups of participants to engage with research topics, create places for the articulation of critical statements against existing societal clichés and stereotypical media representations, and trigger reflections among participants about taken-for-granted knowledge. The method was tested within the Frame-a- Farmer project, in which the social distance between consumers and food producers in modern agrifood systems was addressed. Results indicate that despite the method bearing some risks and facing some challenges, three promising areas of future application could be identified: (i) raising awareness among large groups of people, (ii) collecting stories or topical vignettes, and (iii) deconstructing taken-for- granted knowledge and societal clichés.
Disciplines
Publication Date
2020
DOI
10.1080/1472586X.2020.1715246
Citation Information
Valentin Fiala, Rebecca Paxton, K. Valentine Cadieux, Milena Klimek, et al.. "Reflective Photobooth – A way to visualise, and challenge perceptions and representations of distanced social groups" Visual Studies Vol. 34 Iss. 4 (2020) p. 336 - 339 ISSN: 1472-5878 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/kvalentine-cadieux/39/