The voice of minorities is often muted and thus most people do not understand their experiences. How can we even talk about inclusion, if most members of society are unaware of other people’s needs?
These thoughts sparked my Master’s thesis research titled Visibility of dis/ability: Capturing shadows of ableism and disablism through a Photovoice-based approach. My research questions were:
- What kind of experiences of ableism and disablism can be recognised in and through a Photovoice-based approach?
- How could social capital between people with different abilities be enhanced in and through Photovoice-based workshops?
A shadow is a dark area of which some people are aware, others are ignorant and some people ignore it on purpose. This is exactly what happens with ableism and disablism in society.
In this study, people with different abilities were invited to visually document shadows in order to express their truths through their photos. Creative and arts-based practices, such as Photovoice, allow the participants to capture diverse meanings and encourage multiple interpretations come to light without any right or wrong answers (Leavy 2020, 27).
So, the participants took their cameras, reflected critically on their photos with the others and created a space full of possibilities. Let me invite you to discover this place by yourself and to encourage you to let yourself engage in a dialogue with the photos.
Uncovering ableism and disablism
Critical disability theory encourages people to challenge their assumptions about disability (Vehmas & Watson 2014, 639) and differentiates dis/ability from the impaired body, as disability is culturally constructed by society (Goodley 2017, 84). The participants’ photos unveiled a range of practices, attitudes and ideas in which ableism and disablism manifest themselves. From urban structural inequalities to ableist and disablist ways of thinking and acting, the result is the same: people with disabilities are often excluded.
© Participant B
© Participant A
Participation as a cure for invisibility
The participants agreed that opportunities for equal participation for all in society is a good opportunity for the visibility of all its members. By exposing people every day to ‘different’ or ‘un-common’, they will eventually become familiar with it.
Examples of this type of participation could be having a dis/abled actor/actress playing a role on a television show that does not have any connection to their type of disability. If disabled individuals equally participate in society, all the members will eventually become familiar with disability and actions or training for raising awareness will be not needed.
© Participant E
Thinking collectively instead of othering
Dis/ability is ubiquitous. It is not an individualistic trait but concerns everyone in society sooner or later (Dolmage 2017). Consequently, equal participation for all must be a collective concern. Being part of a community requires identifying oneself as part of collective ‘us’ rather than seeing other people as ‘them’ or ‘others’. For example, not parking on a ramp that someone may need for accessing the pavement, is a way of collective thinking. All humans are different. Different bodies, different minds, different colours and sexuality are blooming in society. It’s high time to celebrate this diversity and stop fighting it.
© Participant C
Photovoice opens a space full of possibilities
The Photovoice workshop created an opportunity for boosting connections among people with different abilities and possibly strengthened their social capital. The social capital theory (Putnam 2000) highlights the significance of social connections in people’s lives.
This creative activity engaged people to come together, interact, learn from each other and break stereotypes. During the workshop, everyone was respected, encouraged to ask questions, and openly exchange ideas. This was also evident in the end of the project when everyone shared their social media accounts and expressed an intention to keep in touch.
I invite you to wonder what life would look like if all people were allowed to have different ways of existing in society. If solidarity and diversity were the main elements of what we call the modern world, how would the photos of our experiences be different?
All the photos in this article are captured by the participants. My Master’s thesis study was conducted as part of the Creativity and Arts in Social and Health Fields Master’s degree programme at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.
References
Dolmage, J. T. 2017. Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education. University of Michigan Press.
Goodley, D. 2017. Dis/entangling Critical Disability Studies.
Leavy, P. 2020. Method meets art: Arts-based research practice. The Guilford Press.
Putnam, R. D. 2000. Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. Simon & Schuster paperbacks.
Vehmas S., & Watson N. 2014. Moral wrongs, disadvantages, and disability: a critique of critical disability studies. Disability & society, 29(4), 638–650.
Author
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Xanthippi Panagiotou
Master's student, Metropolia UASXanthippi Panagiotou was a Master's student of the Creativity and Arts in Social and Health Fields Master’s Degree Programme at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.
About the author