Photovoice Project Continues

Click here to view our PhotoVoice gallery

LSPC’s Family Advocacy Network has developed an intergenerational project to document the effects of incarceration on communities that are particularly impacted by the prison industrial complex. The participants in the project, called Photovoice, use cameras to paint a picture of what they see happening in their communities as it relates to the larger theme of the impact of incarceration in their individual lives, families and larger communities.

Photovoice is a way to involve members of a community in shaping the policies and programs that affect their lives by visually documenting the community's strengths and concerns. Photovoice provides a space in which people who have been traditionally shut out of power can articulate a collective voice and develop their visions of what is possible. Photovoice projects are designed to open up discussion about important community issues through large and small group discussion of the participants' photographs. It is also about relating to root causes, developing solutions and strategies, and documenting the mental, physical, and spiritual health of affected communities.

Our first Photovoice project was with a group of women from A New Way of Life, a transitional home for recently released women re-entering their communities. The second phase of the Photovoice Project took place at Oasis High school, a charter school in East Oakland. Over a four-week period, staff member Maisha Quint worked with 5-7 youth every week, ranging in age from fifteen to eighteen years old. Much like the first phase of the project, the youth participated in weekly discussions about their photographs facilitated by Maisha. The pictures that they took are incredibly powerful, and cover a wide range of issues all related to the impact that incarceration has on their communities.

This phase of the project was incredibly rewarding, not only for the youth participants but also for Maisha. The youth participants have chosen six final pictures, and we are currently working with a graphic designer to combine the students' thoughts with their photographs. We will celebrate the end of this phase of the project with a small exhibit of their work.

Click here to view our PhotoVoice gallery