Digital Media and Information in Society/Student Journals/AydenGenther/Photagraph and Narrative

Photograph and Narrative
Essentially this article talks about photo-essays and how they can be used as a tool to promote understanding of cultural aspects of health, as demonstrated by nursing students in an introductory seminar course. The need for clinicians to be effective in a multicultural society has led to the development of cultural competency models and revised nursing curricula. While photography has been used in research, its use as an educational tool in nursing is limited. However, it has been used to empower individuals, promote health, and deepen interpersonal relationships. The camera, photographer, photograph, and viewer must all be considered when using photography as an educational tool, as photographs are precise records of material reality and require interpretive work on the part of the viewer. This is important because it shows us how narrative can effect photography. Showing people the same photo with a different narrative completely changes the way someone may view that image, and in this article it is apparent through the understanding of culturally aspects of health, demonstrated by nursing students. The curriculum forces students to understand their own perceptions, as well as see others.