Hello all,

I have facilitated photonovel projects in Canada with various ages and populations.  I began using photonovels as a health literacy and literacy tool in 2005.  I conducted a critical ethnographic case study with ESL speaking immigrant women in order for them to be able to name their health experience and then codify their reality by writing a story line, using photography as a means to express their message.  I drew on problem posing methods of education, based on the work of Paulo Freire, in which the learner became the main subject in the educational process and thus the transformer of the historical process through the stimulation of their own voice.  

Please go to www.photonovel.ca to view examples of some projects I have been involved in.

My research found that having the women create their own health material (in this case it was about nutrition) raised their critical consciousness about their diets.  It also showed the visuals were significant in terms of improving comprehension. As well, the use of their own language made this multimodal health material comprehensible to others of a similar linguistic level.  Being designed by the women and created through their eyes, the photonovel also brought in a strong element of cultural competency.  

I have done voice over on a photonovels also, which you can view at the website listed above.  This was a photonovel turned into a digital film with voice over about intercultural dating.  I have also created a website www.photonovela.com where others can post their photonovels to share more easily.

The genre of the photonovel shows that various populations can make remarkable contributions to health literacy initiatives  when provided with opportunities to take on active roles of participation in the educational process.

Please feel free to ask me any questions regarding my work with photonovels as a health education strategy,

Sincerely, 

Laura Nimmon
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Laura Nimmon 
Ph.D Student
Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada Doctoral Fellow
Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Senior Graduate Trainee 
www.photonovel.ca

Language and Literacy Education
University of British Columbia
2125 Main Mall
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6T 1Z4