Key Takeaways
Locust swarm. When asked about the locust plague that arrived in Borana in 2020, one pastoralist responded ‘Bofa dheedhiitti, buutii afaan buune’ (‘When we attempted to flee from a bofa snake (less deadly), we were met with butti (the most poisonous snake)’). Photos of locust swarms provided a focus for discussion around the meaning of uncertainty. Credit: Masresha Taye.
The PASTRES photovoice allowed pastoralists to record their perspectives and reflect on their settings. The method revealed real-life experiences and a space for critical dialogue around their realities, thoughts, and responses to uncertainty. With photovoice, different stories are told, photographs are captured, and reflections emerge.
In all six sites, the method was found to be easy to implement, and photovoice was able to set off interactions between the researcher and the participants. Even in areas such as Sardinia and Gujarat, where participants did not take many pictures but shared their feelings through TikTok and Facebook, the discussions prompted by the photovoice interactions were free-flowing and encompassed history, place, and complex, uncertain realities.
The advent of newer mobile photo technologies and the internet and social media have made it easier for researchers to conduct visual research methods, even if they cannot be there full-time or can only go at irregular intervals. Such technologies helped the process during the Covid-19 pandemic. Covid-19 had, for a while, prevented the researchers and the photovoice participants from physically meeting each other. But exchanges of photos through social media helped deepen research–participant relationships, which were rekindled when they got together physically after the pandemic.
The method also supported qualitative discussion by surfacing meanings through photographs that may have yet to be noticed by traditional tools of enquiry. For example, in Borana, Ethiopia, a lady milking a cow was interpreted differently by different sections of the community; some saw this as an opportunity for nutritious milk from livestock while others saw this as women being burdened by their daily chores without a helping hand. The accompanying narratives from different viewpoints that describe a picture helped expose the diverse interpretations of an issue.
A wealthy adult male pastoralist took this photo- graph to show a ‘natural dinner’ for children. The photo prompted a variety of responses:
‘A woman without help’ (carrying a child on her back and milking alone) – a poor, young, female pastoralist.
‘She might be a very busy woman to milk a cow after sunset’ – a middle-aged female pastoralist, medium wealth group.
‘A dinner for pastoralists’ – an adult male pastoralist, medium wealth group.
‘Not sufficient milk, as the cow looks starved’ – a poor, old, female pastoralist.
A Sardinian pastoralist shares a photo of his cheese with the researcher. Credit: Francesco.
A collection of Facebook groups dedicated to Douiret
in southern Tunisia. Members post archival photos,
maps, poetry, obituaries, and live videos of sheep-
shearing and olive-picking. Credit: Linda Pappagallo.
