Author:

Keywords:

photography, place, community building, identity, public pedagogy, Social Sciences, Geography, COMMUNITY, GEOGRAPHIES, METHODOLOGY, PHOTOVOICE, ART, 1604 Human Geography, 1608 Sociology, 2002 Cultural Studies, 4405 Gender studies, 4406 Human geography

Abstract:

This paper discusses the way in which public photographic depictions of places and place-based communities contribute to the construction of local identity and community building. Being public and visualised statements about what a place and the people living there are and what they are not, photographs incite public debate about place and community. The paper discusses two interventions, one in Ghent, Belgium involving professional photographers from outside the neighbourhood, and one in Bonnybridge, Scotland involving amateur photography by local residents. Both are attempts by community workers to encourage citizens to discuss alternative realities of themselves, their neighbours and their neighbourhood. Combining theories on place-making and public pedagogy, we reveal how both nonetheless exemplify very different strategies to democratize community building processes.