Using photovoice methodology to capture narratives of Sri Lankan Northern Muslims displacement

This paper explores the Photovoice method as a participatory research tool. Using the case study of displaced northern Muslims in Sri Lanka, it illustrates how the method can yield valuable insights into experiences of protracted displacement. The study highlighted four key methodological strengths of photovoice in displacement research, they are: illustrating the power of the visual; eliciting deeper understandings of lived experiences — through dialog and images; taking meaningful steps towards co-production of knowledge; and offering meaningful processes for participants, including community dialogue, across positionalities that are different. A key emphasis of the paper is the usefulness of Photovoice due to its breadth and ground-up approach. We worked closely for one year with 45 Muslim Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who were forcibly evicted from Northern Sri Lanka by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1990. The people selected had a range of displacement, resettlement and/or local integration experiences and they shared with us images and stories of loss, grief, support and recovery in three distinct settings across a 30-year period. Their narratives demonstrated how the displaced and the local humanitarians held each other to account, as they reflected on the power of ‘their’ visuals through voice accounts. By participating in the research as photographers and story tellers, the IDPs together with the researchers were able to actively shape and share their experiences in the broader discourse of conflict, displacement and humanitarian assistance. The study illustrated new ways to think as researchers, and about the relationships towards and with participants.