The intention: participatory monitoring

1. Participatory monitoring to overpass subjectivityGerald Assouline www.geraldassouline.fr - www.parimage.org

2. The intention: participatory monitoring • Photography is the result of subjectivity of the shooter and of the voyeur... • By giving the word to different stakeholders, you overpass individual subjectivity and develop participatory monitoring . • According to their social, cultural and economic background and position, actors will collect and develop different points of view. • The confrontation of those different visions will help to identify core issues. • Collective discussion will emerge on those issues

4. Methods are rather opened Participatory monitoring is ambiguous. • the World Bank: outsiders (external experts) define the scope and criteria to be monitored and insiders collecte data, visual ones for instance, to be analysed by experts. >> participation as alibi • Development NGO (Oxfam): insiders and outsiders debate and define together what is relevant and not, the kind of data to be monitored and how it should be analysed.

5. Visual participatory monitoring: the photovoice approach Photovoice is a methodology mostly used in the field of education which combines photography with grassroots social action. • Subjects are actors: they are asked to represent their community or points of view by taking photographs. • As a form of community consultation: photovoice attempts to bring the perspectives of those "who lead lives that are different from those traditionally in control of the means for imaging the world" into the policy-making process.

6. Empowerment and dignity As a practice based on the production of knowledge, photovoice has three main goals: • to enable people to record and reflect their community's strengths and concerns, • to promote critical dialogue and knowledge about important issues through large and small group discussion of photographs, and • to reach policymakers. • Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shrFa2c305g

7. Wording through imaging Taking the word with image: • to be able to say with image • to be able to say, besides image • to engage a collective process, which frees the word...

8. Visual productions • In case of participatory photo process, the outcomes can be: - an exhibition, or photo series projection; - a film made of still images put into motion and words/interviews taped: it is called a photofilm. >> People engaged in the process take the word with image and voices. • In case of documentary photo and video done on a specific situation, a documentary film can be edited. >> An outsider gives his point of view and may give people the possibility to express their visions.

10. Experiences (1) • Collective imaging / taking the word: documentary function of the process >> Here, it is quiet: photofilm done with images of participants to a photoworkshop: disabled people at a social farm >> Little farmers stories: photofilm done with with images of disabled childfren going every week to a social farm: how do they live the experience? • Engaging a group into a creative process: short fiction films >> Noir & Blanc (2 mn)

11. Some lessons • Still image different from video making, more accessible tool • key function of the editing • importance of giving the word and hearing the words • so there are parallel processes: image production and word production. Both have their own pace and logic. • The ideal outcome is when participants in photo making and word expression can say: it is our movie.

12. Visual participatory monitory in Pisa summer course How do we adapt those methodologies? Our context: • A group made of students with different social, cultural backgrounds, and farmers, • This heterogeneity leads to diverse comprehension of: - rural reality and ways to understand and observe it, - the representation of this rurality with images - the reading and interpretation of those images • So shooting, showing and reading photos will show different points of view. This diversity of points of view is a richness, not a problem, when the objective is to document and monitor a situation. >> It contributes to objectivise the observation.

14. Day 1 - A warming up experiment The goal of this 1st exercise is to observe what is around us: to establish a personal dialogue with landscape nature, people, houses, vegetation… • So till 4:30 pm, you go around, take photos and select 1 single photo, • Then at 4:30, you present this single photo which will reveal what you liked most from this observation. • You will explain why this photo is meaningful for you and deserves to be selected. In 3-4 mn.

15. Day 2 - Field trip, the visual assignment • We will focus on people, farm(s), environment (nature, landscape…), products, production model, work…and also surprising points, observed during the field trip : • what attracts your attention ? • what is specific, typical according to you ? • what is not specific ? • what characterises positively farm activity and local rural development ? • which weaknesses you could notice on the farm and its environment ?

16. Photo editing • At the end of the field trip day, each participant will select 15 photos maximum. Then we shall see the next steps tomorrow…!