Tools and methods
Tools and methods
“Shooting script”
Photography scenario
When it is useful
The photographic walks scenario is a method borrowed from visual sociology. This method allows for a quick start of research in the space of a neighbourhood or district-without much preparation. Its advantage is becoming ‘immersed’ in the given place without any bias. Walking around the district or neighbourhood, we try to find characteristic places, activities and behaviours and record them through photographs – documenting the social and cultural fabric of the place. A photo walk in the neighbourhood is an opportunity to get the residents interested and involved in the process. At the same time, it helps develop relationships in the group that works together on a cultural planning project. The advantage of the method is its simplicity, so it can be used by people who are not professional researchers. Below you can find a sample photo walk scenario developed for the Urb Cultural Planning project and a presentation of the method used in the De-re-board project.
Step by step instruction
- Prepare a scenario – a list of questions to be answered while observing the place.
- Take photos and browse them – it is good to walk around in pairs, discussing the choice and relevance of the photographs to the question we are interested in. We also look for what is still missing.
- Retake photos – when we discover some patterns and connections between sets of photos that form interesting observations, we go back to the places and focus on that particular phenomenon observed or characteristic features of the space.
- Analysis and conclusions – we describe what we have observed, what the pictures represent.
Downloadable materials
