Auto‐photovoice: A reflexive extension of photovoice methodology and its practice in a COVID‐quarantined community psychology course

This article introduces "auto-photovoice," a novel self-reflexive extension of photovoice methodology where participant-researchers turn the camera on themselves to explore their personal experiences and observations of a phenomenon. In our exemplar project, students and faculty codesigned and implemented auto-photovoice methodology during a 10-week online community psychology graduate seminar during the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine. Our photos addressed the prompt, "What inequities do we experience and witness in well-being related to COVID-19?" The initial analysis of weekly discussions of the photos identified 24 themes regarding COVID-19 impacts, which we later synthesized into four more general themes: (1) systemic social injustices, (2) abuses of power, (3) inequitable access, and (4) differential experiences among workers. As participant-researchers practicing auto-photovoice, we created a sense of community and an empowering pedagogy in our first remote online class during the initial weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a methodology rooted in epistemologies that value reflexive and participatory knowledge creation, auto-photovoice facilitates us working empathically and authentically with communities in projects characterized by epistemic respect and justice.