Imaginary pictures, real life stories: the FotoDialogo method

This paper explores methodological issues of recording, revisiting and portraying women’s life experiences and their connections to the past, to their families and to their communities. It examines the personal histories and collective memories of a group of low‐income Hispanic women, through the application of an innovative research tool that uses pictures and storytelling as projective techniques. The FotoDialogo Method uses a set of original drawings to initiate dialogical interviews, to inspire research participants to tell their stories, and to critically analyze the situations presented in these stories. The research study took place at a community‐based organization providing non‐formal education programs to the Spanish‐speaking population in a US inner‐city setting. The FotoDialogo Method has the potential to be an effective tool to help underprivileged women break the silence concerning their experiences of oppression and to engage them in a process of self‐discovery and transformation that empowers them to become change agents within their families and communities.