Photo-eliciting technique as an integrated meaning-making practice: An introspective look at diversity, identities, and voice-giving

The affordance of participant voice is a widely acclaimed feature of photo-eliciting techniques. Yet, how this voice is afforded to participants is not always elaborated. This article reflects on the use of a photo-eliciting technique in an ethnically diverse context. Using a study with a group of Filipino youth in Hong Kong, the article draws attention to methodological considerations that led to the design of a photo-eliciting technique in interviews that elicited deeper thinking from participants. The analysis constructs the technique as a meaning-making practice to illustrate the interconnections between epistemological stance, methodological decisions and interpretive exercises in the study, which altogether constitute the practice of voice-giving to participants. The attention to voice-giving indicates the need for researchers to pay more regard to the reflexivity and the intricate ordering of epistemethodological aspects of photo-eliciting techniques that underpin the ‘who’ and ‘how’ of making participants’ voice heard. Copyright © 2021 International Visual Sociology Association.