More than 20 students were honored finalists for their work in Photovoice Missouri, a state-wide health photography program and competition. The students traveled to an awards ceremony in Columbia, Mo., on Friday, April 13, where they were celebrated for their achievements throughout the school year on the Photovoice Missouri project.
The student who walked away with the top honor for her Photovoice Missouri work was Abigail Todd from Dallas County. Dallas was one of seven counties represented in the project, which also included students from Mercer, Ralls, Shelby, Lafayette and Dent Counties. The finalists’ photos were judged by how well they illustrated the Photovoice method, Healthy Lifestyle Initiative ideals as well as the photograph itself. (More after winning photo below.)
This picture is good and bad. It represents good because the runner is doing something to stay healthy. However, it is also bad because she is running on a very busy stretch in our town. Many people feel safe running on this road because it is across from our campus, which makes it a highly populated area. However, it truly needs sidewalks for the safety of anyone who would like to jog, walk, or bike here.
“From everything we’ve heard from the teachers and the students involved in this project, it’s been an eye-opening experience,” said Jon Stemmle, co-organizer of Photovoice Missouri and director of the Health Communication Research Center at the Missouri School of Journalism. “Our goal going in was to introduce the students to a way to get their thoughts and concerns about the health of their communities heard. Based on what we’ve seen, I believe that’s happened and it’s created a dialogue that we hope will continue.”
The main goal of Photovoice Missouri is to encourage students to raise awareness about how their communities are supporting healthy eating and opportunities for physical activity by taking photographs of what they see in their everyday lives. Their photographs show examples of ways the community supports positive lifestyle behaviors as well as gaps or areas where community improvement is needed.
The concept of Photovoice has been around for nearly 20 years, and is most often used in the field of community development, public health, and education to combine photography with grassroots social action. Participants are asked to represent their community or point of view through photos, videos or slideshows. Each participant develops a brief narrative to go with each of their visual presentations. They also discuss one another’s work and coordinate outreach or other action aimed at promoting tangible change within their community.
All of the students’ pictures can be seen on Flickr, a photography sharing website, at www.flickr.com/photos/photovoicemissouri/.
Photovoice Missouri is supported by Missouri’s Healthy Lifestyle Initiative, assisted by the Health Communications Research Center at the Missouri School of Journalism.