Getting the picture: Photo-assisted conversations as interviews

Abstract

According to the literature, there are problems inherent in interviewing people with intellectual disabilities. This paper reports on a small pilot project in which photographs were used to assist in interviews with such informants, the idea being that this might help to circumvent some of these problems. This author took pictures of some informants in daily life situations in their own homes. Other informants, living in other grouped homes, were asked to take pictures themselves. The photographs were examined collaboratively by the informant and the author in an interview-as-conversation situation. The photographs supplied a concrete point of departure for conversations, provided informants with a helpful platform for expressing points of view, supplied contextual clues helpful in understanding informants’ actual language, and enhanced “serendipity” in the interview situations. © 2000 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.