four note friday 1.8 | Using Menus within Photovoice Projects

Imagine walking into a restaurant, sitting down, and being greeted by a server with a big smile:

“Good evening and welcome. What would you like to start with? Drinks? An appetizer? . . . A menu? Oh, we actually don’t have a menu. You can have anything at all. Just let me know what you'd like.”

At first, it sounds exciting. Endless options! SNAP. But then your mind starts spinning. Do you ask for something simple like pasta? Do they even have pasta? What if you request a dish they’ve never cooked before? What ingredients do they have in their kitchen? The openness, instead of feeling liberating, quickly feels a little stressful. What in the world do I want to eat?

Now picture the same situation, but with a menu in your hands. Even a short one helps. The menu is a representation of the restaurant—what it's all about. An Italian restaurant may feature a variety of pasta and pizza selections while a Mexican cuisine-inspired food truck may feature a wide variety of street tacos. You can see what’s possible, notice the chef’s specialties, and start imagining how you’d like your meal. The menu doesn’t close off your choices. Instead, it gives you a clear, shared starting point. In fact, you've selected the restaurant precisely for their menu.

That’s what menus can do in photovoice projects. They bring common ground, structure, and inspiration to the decision-making process while still leaving room for creativity and collaboration.

Honoring the participatory nature of photovoice means inviting and nurturing project engagement among those with whom you are working. If the project is truly participatory, lines between researchers and participants melt into collaborative efforts. This can be an incredibly fruitful and generative space.

One way to invite project participants into the project design and build process is by creating menus as starting points.

Building menus ahead of and during planning meetings with participants is one effective way to invite ideation and shared decision-making about crucial elements of a photovoice project. Below are four types of menus I've found helpful when engaging participants and collaborators in the photovoice project lifecycle.

I encourage you to take some time to build out these example menus (not an exhaustive list, by the way) and see what happens when you put them into practice.

🍽️ Four Menus for Photovoice Projects

1. Menu of Photography Prompts 📸
Jot down a starter list of photography prompts participants might engage with related to the topic at hand. Some examples might include "How do you learn best?" "Where do you feel most comfortable on campus?" and "What does a typical day look like for you?" A menu of prompts invites participants to select them, adapt them, or invent their own. This collaborative process ensures the prompts remain relevant and connected to participants' realities.

2. Menu of Ways to Create Photographs 📱
Participants may not all want to use the same tools. Your photography-making tool menu might include smartphone cameras, disposable cameras, instant cameras, or even cyanotype photography (something I've been learning and playing around with a lot lately!). Consider access, costs, and training needs when brainstorming. Are AI generated photographs on or off the table? Why, or why not? Talk about it with the group! Offering a menu of ways to create photographs affirms that multiple approaches are valid and expands creative possibilities.

3. Menu of Ways to Generate Voice to Accompany the Photographs 🎙️
Generating voice does not have to be relegated to a photo elicited interview. Participants could write extended captions, engage in a discussion thread in an online space, record audio reflections, share group dialogue, write poetry, draft policy language, or even pair images with song lyrics or music. Having a menu here allows opens up various ways of storytelling that fit different comfort levels and strengths—as well as project outcomes.

4. Menu of Ways to Share Project Findings 💭
Well ahead of when the project is ready to be shared, present options: gallery exhibitions, pamphlets, websites, policy posters, community meetings, social media campaigns, zines, or formal presentations to local decision-makers. A dissemination menu ensures participants have a say in how their work reaches wider audiences.

Constraint inspires creativity. At the same time, each menu is less about restriction and more about opening the door to possibilities and collaborative decision-making. By designing with menus in hand, you invite participants to co-author the process all across the project's lifecycle.

🥹 Thanks for spending a moment with me this Friday.
💌 If you’re new here, welcome! I hope this space becomes one you look forward to each week.

📬 Have a question you want me to answer in a future issue? Reach me at photovoicefieldnotes@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks for being here.

Warmly,
Mandy
photovoice field notes
photovoicefieldnotes.com