Photovoice: Our Community, Our Vision, Our Voices

The Community Folk Art Center, 805 E. Genesee St., presents “Photovoice: Our Community, Our Vision, Our Voices,” an exhibition of the work of women living in impoverished areas of Trinidad. The exhibition is the result of more than seven months of small-group workshops conducted in Trinidad by Kishi Animashaun Ducre, assistant professor of African American studies in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The exhibit runs through March 17. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays.

The women who participated in the workshops learned to use images to explore issues of envrionmental racism and social injustice. Their images conceptualize their environment, how their degraded environments impact their quality of life and the strategies they employ to avoid unhealthy or unsafe environments. The project was funded by a 2011 Fulbright Teaching and Research Fellowship awarded to Ducre, who worked with the Institute for Gender and Development at the St. Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies to bring the project to fruition

Ducre conducted a similar project with women living in Syracuse’s Southside neighborhood several years ago. Methodologies used with both groups included community mapping and photovoice.

Community mapping is a process through which people create a visual image of their environment, highlightiing assets and deficiencies. Photovoice uses images taken by people with little money, power or status to enhance community needs assessment, empower participants and inform policy makers.