Talking about pictures: A case for photo elicitation

TLDR

Photo elicitation is defined as a research method that uses photographs to evoke information, feelings, and memories, and its development in anthropology and sociology has been charted and organized by topic and form. The study concludes that photo elicitation expands conventional empirical research by generating distinct types of information and offers practical guidance for researchers.

Abstract

This paper is a definition of photo elicitation and a history of its development in anthropology and sociology. The view of photo elicitation in these disciplines, where the greatest number of photo elicitation studies have taken place, organizes photo elicitation studies by topic and by form. The paper also presents practical considerations from a frequent photo elicitation researcher and concludes that photo elicitation enlarges the possibilities of conventional empirical research. In addition, the paper argues that photo elicitation also produces a different kind of information. Photo elicitation evokes information, feelings, and memories that are due to the photograph's particular form of representation.