Photography, politics and childhood: exploring children’s multimodal relations with the public sphere

Abstract

In qualitative research with children visually oriented and multimodal approaches are identified in the literature as more appropriate for approaching children’s meanings and feelings often deemed to lie beyond the realm of language. In our own research, a comparative ethnography which enquired into the relationships between childhood and public life, with six-to-eight year olds in three cities (Athens, Hyderabad and London), we have reflexively experimented with the employment and remixing of methodologies which would allow us to explore such relationships. In the process of our research, incorporating different visual and ethnographic methods, we have developed a data collection and production process, an adaptation of the photo-story, which allows for a multimodal, processual and reflective enquiry into children’s relationships of concern and politics of care. We review the central visual methods in research with children, we then proceed to provide a documentation of the method, its development and its rationale. Consequently, we provide some examples of the photo-story method’s implementation in the Connectors Study together with a discussion of the production processes of the photo-stories themselves and our readings of them. We conclude with a section with reflections on the method, which, we argue provides a departure point from which we may rethink the political in childhood, as well as the ways in which photography is employed as a research method in the social sciences.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to thank the children and the children’s parents who supported the study over five years. They also acknowledge their heartfelt appreciation and thanks to their colleague Madhavi Latha, who assisted the third author with the fieldwork in Hyderabad. We would also like to thank the following individuals who supported the project team in successfully facilitating the creative workshops with the children, in Athens: Anastasia Dimitriou, Aimilia Fakou, Victoria Lagopoulou, and Stephanie Vouvousira; in Hyderabad: Sai Amulya Komarraju, Archana Rao Manukonda and Naga Deepika Ratan; and in London: Jenny Hewitt, Perpetua Kirby, Tasleem Rana, Catherine Walker. We also acknowledge and thank our colleague Claire Prater, project coordinator for the study, who supported the organisation of the workshops in London and much more besides. We are also grateful for the feedback of our two anonymous reviewers.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

[1] The entire catalogue can be openly accessed at: https://childhoodpublics.org/communications/writing/exhibition-catalogues/.

[2] The ‘In Common’ exhibitions took place in London, Hyderabad and Athens between late 2017 and early 2019. You can read more and find visual documentation of the exhibitionas at: https://childhoodpublics.org/events/in-common-childrens-photo-stories-of-public-life/.

[3] In the meanwhile we have been meeting with our interlocutors, carrying out other research activities.

[4] The workshop in Athens took place on 7 April 2016, at the building of the Association of Greek Archaeologists; in London the workshop took place at The Photographers Gallery on the 14 May 2016; the workshop in Hyderabad held at Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS) on the 24 April 2016. Each workshop was a day workshop, with a duration of approximately 5–6 hours.

[5] Some of the children didn’t manage to come to the workshop (ie some were sick on that day). In these occasions, we repeated the process individually with each of the children at a later day, and their photo-stories were included in all future activities (newsletter, book, exhibition).

[6] Details of the exhibitions can be found here: https://connectorsstudy.com/events/in-common/ (London) and here https://connectorsstudy.com/events/athens-in-common/ (Athens).

[7] The ‘Nizam’ was the title of Muslim dynasty rulers of Hyderabad State in the 18th and first half of 19th century.

[8] Although Saif felt bad when he was hit once by the master in Madrassa, he self-reported that he still likes to go to Masjid/Madrassa because there are so many good things that he enjoys over there. And given a choice he would prefer to go to Madrassa than his regular school, he confessed once in Vinnarasan’s and Madhavi’s visits. Similarly, being a firm believer of Islam, his mother once told Vinnarasan and Madhavi that religious life is paramount to everything, so learning Arabic and Quran is a must for peaceful life and future career. Therefore, even if Saif is not feeling well, she gives him medicine and sends him to Arabic class regularly. For Saif, the mosque is not only a place for learning, but it also provides a space for social life, especially friendship. Overall, he has a positive feeling about his experiences in his Arabic class.

Additional information

Funding

Research for this paper was funded by ERC [ERC-StG -335514] to Dr. Sevasti-Melissa Nolas.

Notes on contributors

Christos Varvantakis

Christos Varvantakis is an anthropologist currently working as the Co-Investigator for the Children’s Photography Archive (Goldsmiths/ERC). His research focuses on the intersections of childhood and public life, politics and urban environments, as well as on visual and multimodal research methodologies. He is the head of programming of the Athens Ethnographic Film Festival and co-editor of the journal entanglements: experiments in multimodal ethnography.

Sevasti-Melissa Nolas

Sevasti-Melissa Nolas teaches at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her research interests include: childhood, youth and family lives; civic and political practices across the life course; ethics of care and practices of social support; phenomenology; multimodal ethnography; publics creating methodologies. She lead the Connectors Study (2014-2019) and co-directs the Children’s Photography Archive (2020-2021) both funded by the European Research Council. She co-edits the journal entanglements: experiments in multimodal ethnography.

Vinnarasan Aruldoss

Vinnarasan Aruldoss is an Assistant Professor at BITS Pilani, Dubai. Previously, he held research fellowships at the University of Sussex and Goldsmiths College, University of London on the ERC funded Connectors Study. His research interests are in childhood, social policy, early years intervention, social theories and sociology of education.