The Voice of Ivory Park: Photovoice
The streets of Ivory Park are now available to you on your computer screen through an exciting participatory project that I am lucky to be a part of. Photovoice: Street Life in Ivory Park is a project where street photographers in Ivory Park upload their photos of street life to a facebook page this month.
The idea behind this project is to highlight the role of the street as an important place of informal business and social interaction. The facebook aspect allows for public comment and discussion around the issues of the community, and allows a platform for the photographers to share their work. Like the facebook page and get involved in the conversation - you'll learn more about township life than you ever thought possible. And if you're from Ivory Park, like the page and comment to make your voice heard! A diverse range of people see what is happening on this page, and maybe what you say can spark new ideas or connect you with other like-minded community members.
I've thoroughly enjoyed seeing the photographs and enthusiasm of the photographers, who each make a living with their cameras, often taking same-time portraits and ID photos. These artists have impressed me daily with their images uploaded to facebook, and I am looking forward to plans for an exhibition of their best images in the future. Projects like this one, in which the community speaks and builds dialogue, is an exciting way to understand issues and imagine new solutions from within.
The project will contribute towards an advocacy intervention by the Sustainable Livelihoods Foundation and partners (UrbanWorks plus local stakeholders) to recognise and legitimize street based informal businesses. This initiative has been financially supported by the Participate project of the Institute of Development Studies. The objectives of Participate are to provide evidence of the reality of poverty at ground level and through participatory approaches to bring the perspectives of the poorest into the post-2015 debate.
What do you think of this project? How can this sort of approach be replicated in different communities? Should it be replicated? Adjusted?
Like the facebook page, you wont regret it!
Alex