Step 4: Writing or Dictating Narratives
by Mala Matacin, PhD
Students take more creative risks in their own captioning after being shown various approaches. — Mala Matacin?
“The caption to your photo is similar to the label you see next to a piece of artwork at a museum.” I often make this comparison in class before my students begin the process of writing narratives for their images. It is apropos for several reasons: 1) it is relatively short; 2) it makes sense in the context of an exhibit; and 3) it provides meaning to the photograph.?
As a professor of Psychology, I have conducted photovoice studies with a range of students (first-year to advanced honors) to address a core issue in class. In the spring semester of 2023, I designed and taught a brand new DEIJB-designated University seminar — “Crip, Queer, and Fat: The Intersectionality of Bodies.” Respectful, compassionate, and empathetic conversations in classes that focus on issues of power, privilege, and marginalized identities, can be hard. Arao and Clemens (2013) argue that meaningful and transformative social justice dialogues need to move away from “safe spaces” (educators cannot guarantee safety and comfort) and into “brave spaces.” Brave spaces are more realistic in DEIJB discussion-based courses, where discomfort is predictable when challenging the effects of systemic oppression. Using guided questions, students took photos and engaged in dialogues regarding their experience of co-creating and learning in a brave space classroom. ?
Before jumping into the caption-writing for their brave space photos, we practiced by returning to a low stakes assignment done at the beginning of the semester —our “intersectional self-portraits”: an image where we introduced ourselves to each other using only objects/items that represented at least two of our identities. I shared some photo prompts with students that I learned during my training at the PhotoVoice Studios in London (https://photovoice.org/) and provided an example based on my own image. In this way, they could see how the same picture can have multiple types of captions, depending on their audience and/or what they hope to share.?
Using my intersectional self-portrait (pictured at below), I offered my students three examples of different types of captions: a sense poem; a photo diary; and a campaign photograph.
Example 1: A sense poem. In this prompt, we are asked to write a poem based on our senses in relation to the image.??
I hear…?
I smell…?
I see…?
I taste…?
I touch…?
I feel…?
Afterward, take out the first two words (e.g., “I hear”) and what you are left with is a poem.?
Caption for Example 1:?
Echoes of my ancestors?
Sunshine and Spring?
My Life?
The tang of Pez, my childhood?
Fur, cold nose, and warm tongue?
Love?
This can stand alone or be “fleshed out” to provide more meaning.?
Example 2: A photo diary. In this prompt, we are asked to consider what happened before or after the photo was taken. The time-period can be altered (e.g., minute, hour, week, month) to consider a more immediate response to a longer time-period (e.g., “what happened one minute before or after the photo was taken” or “what happened a day before or after the photo was taken”). I chose to write the caption in relationship to what happened one minute before and after I took the picture.??
Caption for Example 2:?
Rushing to find objects of my identity. What do I want you to know? An immigrant family must underlie everything. “Where is Croatia?” People always ask. Layered onto that is my whiteness, work for social justice, tempered by my childlike joy. Being an educator is centered on love — love takes the center. Others don’t know what to do with this admission. My dog inserts her foot to remind me that really, SHE should be the center!?
I take the picture. I breathe.?
Example 3: A campaign photograph. In this prompt, we are asked to consider our audience and what we change we want people to think about. ?For this example, I thought about my “campaign” in terms of creating a brave space classroom as an educator and how my identities fit into that effort.?
Caption for Example 3:??
Because I can?
Because I think?
Because I read?
Because I feel?
?
Because it’s my responsibility?
Because I’m invested in social justice?
Because I need to acknowledge my privilege and power?
Because I have microaggressed and I want to do better?
Because I want to share our knowledge with others?
Because I want us all to show up, fully?
Because I have to be vulnerable too?
Because I need classroom community?
Because you matter to me?
Because I’m human?
Lessons Learned??
1). Share a personal example. Sharing my own images along with different ways of captioning a photo shows students there is no right or wrong narrative, only the photographer’s intended meaning. I have observed that students take more creative risks in their own captioning after being shown various approaches. One of the guiding questions in our brave space photovoice study was “what prevents you from being brave in your classes?” One of the themes that emerged was “fear.” In “Catch Me if I Fall” one can sense the author’s feelings of being left out of a class. ?
Catch Me if I Fall?
My perspective shifts as I silently secede?
My view is tilted yet, no one sees?
I feel like a fallen tree?
Finally, someone helps set me free?
??? Supported; I rise up?
2). Use a low-stakes assignment to practice. Most students demonstrate increasing vulnerability when discussing photo yet remain unsure about how much to share with an audience in their captions. Using a low-stakes assignment (like the intersectional self-portrait I shared previously) can be helpful in deciding what is comfortable to share publicly.?
3). Allow time for editing. Setting aside time to edit the captions (these can range from fixing typos to re-writing for clarity) is essential. We do this in small groups, and I visit each of the groups while they provide feedback. Students and I have had the experience of reading a caption that does not do justice to the story told during our photo discussions. Providing this feedback allows the author to include any components missing in the narrative.??
About the Author
Mala Matacin is a professor of Psychology at the University of Hartford, who currently serves as Co-Chair and Director of the Undergraduate Program. She recently co-edited a book entitled bell hooks’ Engaged Pedagogy for the 21st Century Classroom: Radical Spaces of Possibility. Her chapter in this volume—Picturing Possibility: Photovoice as Liberatory Pedagogy—details how she has used photovoice in the classroom.
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