The use of photography as emancipatory action: an experience report with people in street situation

• Main Authors: Juliana de Oliveira Perez, Regina Célia Fiorati, Leonardo Martins Kebbe, Beatriz Cardoso Lobato
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Federal de São Carlos 2014-08-01
• Series: Cadernos de Terapia Ocupacional
• Subjects: Occupational Therapy; Poverty; Social Conditions; Social Marginalization
• Online Access: http://www.cadernosdeterapiaocupacional.ufscar.br/index.php/cadernos/article/view/1044
• ISSN: 0104-4931; 2238-2860

This study aims to present a reflection on the experience of the use of photography by the occupational therapist with the people living in the streets of a Specialized Reference Center for Social Assistance to People in Street Situation - CREAS-POP of a municipality in Sao Paulo state, Brazil. The Photography Workshop aimed to provide an insertion and a different relationship with the urban space and population to the person living in the streets. Participants were asked to photograph something that arouses their interest in urban spaces. The photograph gave them a different view of themselves, allowing them to perceive themselves as subjects with rights and social actors, and not as an object of societal observation. Perceiving themselves as citizens, they came out of invisibility, and an improvement in self-esteem and greater engagement in the activities proposed was observed. The workshop also resulted in a photo exhibit open to the public that aimed to interfere with pre-conceptions and prejudices that society has built about people in street situation and give visibility to the creative potential of this population.