Afterlives of Photovoice
A photovoice process continues after the field-level exchanges and workshops. Continued discussion and debate can emerge from the process. Within the PASTRES project, various forms of feedback and discussion using the photovoice material followed. This allowed the conversations initially generated in the six field sites to continue.
Researcher Tahira Shariff held a pop-up exhibition with stakeholders in Isiolo, Kenya. Credit: Ian Scoones.
Researcher Palden Tsering exhibited photographs and narratives emerging from the photovoice workshops in Golok, Amdo Tibet. Credit: Palden Tsering.
Returning to the community
Sharing the results of the photovoice work with the broader community provided an opportunity for both researchers and photovoice participants to generate a wider debate on the themes of responding to uncertainty in pastoral settings. For the researchers, such community feedback meetings were important occasions to discuss their more comprehensive research findings, with the photovoice experience opening up the conversation.
Field-level interactions with the newspaper
In each site, a ‘newspaper’, including photos from the photovoice work, and wider photo- voice documentation, was produced. You can view these on the seeingpastoralism.org website. Printed out in A3 format, they proved hugely popular as a route to discussing the research with pastoralists. They were also helpful in engaging local officials and policymakers.
The exhibitions: at the local level, the country level, and the global level
During the project, dozens of exhibitions were held in a variety of spaces, from the ONCA gallery in Brighton to an agriturismo in Sardinia to the International Livestock Research Institute in Addis Ababa. Here, the photos produced during the research were shared with very different audiences. Some exhibitions were held within or near the field sites; others were in capital cities where policymakers and others were invited to view them. Still others were at the global level. Sometimes, only pictures from the locality were shared, but images from the different sites were displayed in other exhibitions. These pro- voked important conversations about how similar or different the contexts were and how uncertainties were faced.
Tibetan language newspapers were distributed at a Horse Festival in Kokonor, Amdo Tibet. Credit: Palden Tsering.
Researcher Masresha Taye distributed Oromo language news- papers to participants in his field site in Southern Ethiopia. Credit: Masresha Taye.
Pastoralists look through photo newspapers at the exhibition launch in Sardinia. Credit: Roopa Gogineni.
Interacting through international fora
We held an exhibition in Glasgow around the international climate conference (COP26), focusing on how pastoralist perspectives offer insights into climate change policy. Those attending the conference from different parts of the world came to the exhibition, along with members of the general public.
The inaugural cross-country exhibition titled Seeing Pastoralism
took place outside Alghero in Sardinia, Italy in September 2021.
Newspapers and prints were hung on yarn spun from Sardinian
wool in the gardens of an agriturismo hotel. Credit: Roopa
Gogineni.
Ethiopian Minister of Finance Ahmed Shide opened the Seeing Pastoralism exhibition in Addis Ababa at the ILRI campus (International Livestock Research Institute). Credit: Roopa Gogineni
Seeing Pastoralism exhibition at COP26 in Glasgow. Credit: Roopa Gogineni.
Ethiopian Minister of Finance Ahmed Shide opened the Seeing Pastoralism exhibition in Addis Ababa at the ILRI campus (International Livestock Research Institute). Credit: Roopa Gogineni
Seeing Pastoralism exhibition at COP26 in Glasgow. Credit: Roopa Gogineni.
Audience reactions and feedback from the websites
The Seeing Pastoralism website (seeingpastoralism.org) is where the outputs of the photovoice experiences are posted, along with photo documentation and other commentaries from each of the six PASTRES sites. The website has been a popular and accessible way to share results with a wider international audience.
The Seeing Pastoralism online exhibition, designed by Mariano Sanz.