SHARED PERSPECTIVES: PARTICIPANT PHOTOGRAPHS AND VISUAL ANTHROPOLOGY IN THE USE OF PHOTOVOICE

Abstract

This article discusses Photovoice as a methodological practice situated in the field of visual and shared anthropology, oriented towards the collaborative production of knowledge and the understanding of ways of life traversed by intersectional identities. Based on an empirical experience carried out with seven participants of diverse profiles—including people with visual impairments—the study analyzes the process of image production, interviews, and collective encounters, observing how photography can operate simultaneously as an ethnographic artifact, a device of enunciation, and a space of collective care. The methodological steps included media literacy, free image production, individual pre-selections, discussion groups, and analytical feedback, with an emphasis on accessibility and ethical reflexivity. The analysis of the images and narratives revealed tensions between visibility and protection, agency and vulnerability, highlighting the political and sensory power of the image as a space for negotiation and encounter. The work is inscribed in the tradition of shared anthropology and in decolonial and multisensory epistemologies, proposing a reading of photography as a gesture of sharing and an instrument of symbolic resistance.