Photography in co-participatory research settings: theoretical and methodological reflections on a mapping and photography workshop with adults in Barcelona

Abstract

This article presents methodological and theoretical reflections derived from the photography and research workshop Visual and Emotional Map of L’Eixample, carried out with adult residents of this Barcelona neighborhood. The experience involved individual inquiries through the creation of photographs and subjective maps, which fostered group dialogue about the territory. Through their images and narratives, participants constructed a collective and heterogeneous perspective on the local environment, which made it possible to problematize their own experiences of the transformations driven by current processes of gentrification and touristification. At the same time, the co-participatory process encouraged L’Eixample residents to articulate their active commitment and political thought regarding neighborhood issues, with the intention of showing the coordinating team that local participation in this area is comparable to that of other city neighborhoods historically associated with such forms of engagement. From the perspective of Visual Anthropology, which conceives photography as a social practice, this work examines how the image becomes a shared research tool with particular potential for participatory contexts of reflection and the construction of knowledge.