From Looking at to Looking With: Graffiti Elicitation Interviews as a Methodological Gateway to Community Storytelling

This manuscript introduces graffiti elicitation interviews as a methodological innovation that builds on and reimagines traditional photo elicitation techniques. By using graffiti murals– understood here as cultural artifacts embedded with local meaning and memory–as entry points for dialogue, this approach centers the lived experiences and cultural knowledge of those who engage with these spaces daily. Situated within a two-year ethnographic case study with 8 immigrant mothers in the U.S. diaspora whose narratives were elicited through conversations grounded in graffiti imagery that they recognized and interpreted. This practice moves beyond merely asking participants to respond to pre-selected photos; instead, it invites them into a process of co-constructing meaning around visual expressions of community, resistance, and identity. In doing so, graffiti elicitation functions as a decolonizing and Indigenizing research method, disrupting conventional power dynamics, honoring community-based knowledge, and reclaiming place-based storytelling traditions. The triangulated analysis, combining visual interpretation of 20 graffiti murals, open-coded interviews, and narrative inquiry across transcripts, reveals layered narratives of migration, identity, and belonging often silenced by dominant assimilationist discourses. Ultimately, this work contributes to expanding culturally resonant, relational, and community-anchored approaches to qualitative research.