Anatomy of the before and after: photovoice for (en)during weight loss

ABSTRACT In this essay, I situate the body as a visual storytelling device and explore photovoice as a technology of the self, giving (visual)voice to my embodied sensemaking. Photovoice boldly embraces subjective lived experience as the catalyst for action and advocacy through the incorporation of photography (self- or other-focused) into the research process. These (auto)ethno-(photo)graphic endeavors fit within the wider spectrum of performance- and arts-based research, which are guided by aesthetics. Through reflexive, critical analysis of my conflicting experiences with identity and weight, I situate the body as a site where meaning is both imbued and embedded. I argue that photography, employed as a critically reflexive practice, provides multilayered storied (in)visibility. I hope to inspire others to utilize photovoice as a pedestrian mechanism of sensemaking with great utility for interrogating epistemological standpoints, sensemaking, and identity, ultimately telling our visual stories in ways that aural- or text-centric mechanisms alone cannot convey, particularly for narratives of progress.