four note friday 2.46 | My Recent Photovoice Work
Seeing as it is mid-November, I am eager to spend time in the liminal spaces the upcoming holiday and winter breaks will provide. I'm keen to reflect on 2026, metabolizing all I can from the year's experiences, and then dream up ideas related to shaping my intentions for 2027.
Even though these breaks are not yet upon us, I've been keeping some preliminary notes to remind myself of directions I would like to go with the upcoming reflecting, dreaming, planning, and building. And as you can see in the image below, I have even gone so far as to buy some new office supplies to enhance this upcoming reflection time. Serious business this will be.
In this lead up to some downtime, liminal space, reflection, and planning, I want to use this week's post to catalog some of the recent photovoice work I have been doing that hasn't been shared too, too much in this space just yet.
In what follows, I will outline four photovoice-related projects I am currently working on and provide some reflection on why I find these projects meaningful to the body of knowledge, resources, and community I am building as a scholar, teacher, and advocate.
Journal Article: How to Build a Community College Action Research Collective
During the spring of 2024, I, along with my doctoral assistant at the time, had the opportunity to bring a group of community college students together to form an Action Research Collective and carry out a photovoice project during the course of an academic semester, which we exhibited that summer.
We are finally in a position to start publishing writing based on this project. Our first step has been working on a practice brief that resembles a how-to article. As you might have guessed, our working title is How to Build a Community College Action Research Collective: Photovoice as Equity-Minded Assessment. The piece is currently sitting at just under 4000 words, and we are nearly ready to submit.
Here is the opening paragraph of the paper. Our goal is to see the piece published sometime in 2027. More on this project in time.
Building a community college action research collective (CC ARC) involves student-faculty/staff partnerships (Cook-Sather et al., 2014), equity-minded assessment (Bensimon, & Malcom, 2012; Wang, 2024), undergraduate research activity (Hensel, 2021), a high impact practice (Kuh, 2008*), and photovoice (Latz, 2017; Wang & Burris, 1997). The overarching purpose of this practice brief is to share our experiences of building a CC ARC and provide readers with a flexible and customizable blueprint, bringing the aforementioned components together in a meaningful way. Deploying photovoice as an equity-minded assessment tool through the CC ARC structure can yield critical insights about the student experience, and beyond, and be beneficial for all parties involved. Drawing from the recent creation of a CC ARC in the spring of 2024 at a midwestern community college, we explain our experiences with this process and provide advice for others looking to add approaches to their equity-minded assessment toolkit.
*Kuh, G. D. (2008). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. AAC&U, Washington, D.C.
I would really love to see this model implemented within the community college sector. There is so much to be learned. And there are so many benefits to be gained. This work is not just about a publication. It is about pointing community college faculty and staff to a resource they can model and implement.
Conference Presentation: Building Photovoice Connections in Spain (and beyond)
Like I mentioned last week, I am in the throes of preparing to travel to Seville, Spain in early January of next year to give a short talk about photovoice. In addition to giving the talk, I am also keen to give away my work and point interested folks to this site, building the readership and audience.
As such, I ordered 10 copies of my most recent book on photovoice to give away at the conference (likely post-talk). In addition, I've ordered and am anxiously awaiting the delivery of a pack of stickers featuring the linocut print I hastily made very early on in building this idea (photovoice field notes) and subsequent website that has become the default logo for this site. It's a simple design, it's handmade, and I really like it. I am hopeful to give these stickers out as well.
This conference is vital for me because over the past few years, my research focus has been more topical than methodological. I need to dive back into contemporary conversations about qualitative inquiry, and I am keen to develop a more international perspective. Furthermore, I LOVED my recent consultancy with EASNIE and am keep to develop relationships with others interested in photovoice from around the globe.
AND, if YOU want a sticker, just message me at photovoicefieldnotes@gmail.com with your mailing address, and I will pop a handful to you in the mail! Don't be shy!
Books: A Second Volume and a Second Edition
One of the benefits of maintaining a weekly photovoice writing practice (i.e., these weekly four notes) is that you amass quite a lot of words in a year. Last summer, when I hit the one year mark, I realized just how much writing I had done. As you likely know, I decided to package a number of posts up from year one, curate them, and convert them into a book and ebook.
My first photovoice book of the coming year will be Volume Two of Photovoice Field Notes. Part of my weekly process in writing these posts is now discerning whether a piece will land in the book version. For example, this one won't likely end up there because it's temporally grounded and not exactly evergreen. But each week, I know I'm one step closer to putting together another volume, and there's something quite exciting and fulfilling about that.
A website may not be the most accessible way for readers to consume this work. Books and ebooks may give way to a broader readership and broader access to these posts, which are born digital.
In addition to Volume Two of Photovoice Field Notes, I am also writing a second edition of my 2017 book on photovoice, which is due to the publisher in late 2027 and will hopefully arrive in print in 2028.
Putting myself in the headspace to write these weekly posts consistently primes me to be thinking about and tinkering with how to craft that second edition. Most of the big questions about it are answered, but tinkering on all the details will be a good challenge.
Writing these weekly posts also means doing a lot of reading as a means of gathering ideas about potential topics. For example, today I did a deep read of this piece, which will be featured in at least one forthcoming post. That reading helps me understand both the enduring and contemporary conversations and debates around photovoice practice. And since the book is now nearly 10 years old, those debates need a strong revisiting. The field needs this new edition.
Workshop: Getting Folks to Gather in Muncie, Indiana
After having such a blast facilitating an in-person photovoice workshop in May, I have decided to do it again in 2027. You can learn all details about the 2027 event here. There is a significant early registration discount in effect for the remainder of 2026. If you have a project idea, consider attending, and we'll work through the process together!
I love teaching, and these workshops give me the chance to blend two loves (teaching and photovoice). So much joy is derived from working with others and helping them work through the logistics and details of their projects. I cannot wait to see what this forthcoming workshop has in store!
It's never been too great a challenge for me to maintain a long-term and consistent practice. This probably comes from my background in athletics and the importance of consistent training in that domain. One thing I did not mention above is the ongoing work I've been doing in maintaining these weekly posts for almost a year and a half. Some weeks it's been tough, but it's never been a burden. If you've been with me since the start of photovoice field notes or if you're just reading for the first time now, thank you—sincerely. Knowing there are folks out in the world reading these words is a mighty motivator. A new kind of synergy is enmeshed in the work now, and that is a gift.
🥹 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.
📖 Interested in a book version of these posts? Check out the paperback and ebook!
📬 Have a question you want me to answer in a future post? Reach me at photovoicefieldnotes@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you.
Thanks again for being here.
Warmly,
Mandy
photovoice field notes
https://www.photovoicefieldnotes.com/