" My overall experience with the PhotoVoice training taught me to not restrain myself from participating in activities that most people think require sight. Although many people are unable to sing perfectly, they can still enjoy the feeling of music. Even though we can’t always photograph exactly what we want, we can still experience the same feeling a photographer."
JinLing, China

Warm up Games

Warm-up games can be extremely useful ways of getting the group focused in readiness for the workshop, particularly since the general discussion and conversation at the start may lead to those not directly involved in a conversation ‘tuning out' and then feeling removed from the group when the activity or teaching starts. They are also good ways to build up a group dynamic and for everyone to get to know each other better.

1. Put some music on (a different participant can choose the track used each workshop) and ask all the participants to close their eyes, and become aware of their breathing, the sound of the music, what they feel and imagine. Afterwards, everyone can in turn describe what came to mind, describing a scene and what it meant to them.
   
2. One participant or facilitator moves around the room making noises while everyone else tries to take photos of them from where they are without the use of sight. Those with partial sight should close their eyes or be blindfolded if they prefer. The resulting photos are not important but it can be fun to review them at the end – not least because there are always some amusing photos of other participants trying to get their photos!
   
3. Living Pictures: Participants are asked to ‘freeze' in a pose, then the facilitators choose one or two participants to remain frozen, and ask the other participants to gather around them and through touch establish the posture and then suggest a story behind the pose. This can help to get people talking / interpreting stories from a ‘frozen image' and can lead to a discussion around pictures as frozen moments in time.
   
4. “Something you may not know about me”. Take it in turns to reveal something to the group (especially good with a group that already know each other). Alternatively, pass sweets around and tell everyone to take as many as they like, up to a maximum of five, and then everyone has to give as many facts about themselves as they have taken sweets.
   
5. Everyone says a fact about themselves, and the group must decide if it is a lie or not.
   
6. Zoo. Each participant chooses an animal, and represents it through physical mime and by impersonating the sound. Participants mingle and try to guess which animal the person they meet is representing. You get a point every time you guess correctly and every time someone guesses yours correctly. At the end of the game everyone recounts how many points they built up, and the winner is announced.

Building confidence using the camera

1. Indoors and working in pairs, portraiture can be a great confidence -building exercise early on. The two participants can help each other overcome the initial problems using the camera, and the exercise is fun and helps build group dynamic. Give each pair the task of getting three very different portraits of each participant. Remind them that they can change the angle of the frame (diagonal as well as landscape/portrait), experiment with framing (eg subject in the bottom or to the side rather than in the middle) and try both close-up and wide shots. Remember to announce when half the time is up and they should switch roles, to ensure each has a turn being a model. If anyone is uncomfortable being photographed remember to explain that a portrait doesn't need to include the face – it could be a photograph of a different body part or even some ‘symbolic' objects that represent the person.
   
2. Arrange the group in a circle and place an object or facilitator in the middle for everyone to experiment taking photos of. Facilitators can then monitor the participants and help those who are having problems.
   
3. Framing: Using a cardboard box to represent the photo, participants can set up a photo using objects and discuss how they are choosing to place them in the frame, and address concepts such as foreground and background by choosing what to place in front or behind. If significant objects are chosen the resulting scene can be photographed and can be an interesting photo in its own right.

Games to practise using the senses

1. Ask the participants to find and photograph as many different textures as they can find in the workshop space, and see at the end who found most. Alternatively, set them a treasure hunt by giving them a list of different textures or materials to find by touch and photograph.
For example:

Materials
1) Metal
2) Wood
3) Plastic

Textures
1) Rough
2) Smooth
3) Sharp
4) Fluffy

Shapes and sizes
1) Big
2) Small
3) Round
4) Square

Those with some sight can close their eyes or be blindfolded if they are happy to be, to ensure that they experiment using touch rather than relying on sight.

2. Participants choose an emotion and then try to match it with textures/objects that inspire that emotion in them when touched. Some examples of emotions that can be portrayed are:
-         Happiness
-         Sadness
-         Anger
-         Peace
-         Tranquility
-         Freshness
-         Tenderness
-         Melancholy

3. Write down a list of six textures along with their opposite, and set participants the challenge of taking photos of one pair of opposites each.
1.    Soft – hard
2.    Cold – hot
3.    Smooth – rough
4.    Natural – artificial
5.    Cheap- expensive
6.    Dry – wet

4. Gather a collection of different objects with various distinct smells such as flowers, perfumes, coffee, chocolate, shampoos etc. Put them on a table or pass them around the group, and ask everyone to identify what each is and what they feel or remember when smelling it. Then they must take an object and produce a photograph, using it as the main character, thinking carefully about how they can demonstrate in their photograph what that object means for them.

5. Go out to a street market and ask the participants to use their sense of smell to identify what the stalls are selling and take photos of their favourite things. Once again, those with some sight should close their eyes or put on a blindfold if they prefer, and there should be plenty of support from facilitators to avoid accidents!

6. Play a piece of music and ask each participant to reflect on what emotions or memories are inspired by it, and then take or plan a photograph that captures this.

7. Go out in the street and ask the participants to take photos of 6 different subjects that they identify through sound, such as cars, a fountain, people talking, traffic lights, birds etc.

Outshoots

It is important that the opportunity is given for participants to use the cameras outside the controlled ‘safe space' of the workshop venue during the project, with support from the facilitators and fellow participants. Without this supported experience participants may not build the confidence required to take their cameras out and photograph their experiences between the workshops, which is when the most interesting and revealing photos are likely to be created.

When organizing an outshoot it is a good idea to take suggestions from participants when deciding where to go. This ensures the location is one which participants are enthusiastic about visiting and photographing, and preferably one which they are familiar enough with to have ideas about what to photograph straight away. It is good to select a location that offers a multi-sensory experience, although in good weather any outside location can offer this. Crowded public spaces are best avoided until the participants are very confident about taking photos and being noticed with their cameras. When still developing their skills and confidence the practical challenges presented by a chaotic public space can get in the way of a successful photography outing.

Outshoots must be sufficiently supported, and it is vital that each participant attending is consulted about what support they feel they need to feel safe. Not forseeing such requirements can lead to wasted time and negative experiences on the day. Factors such as transport to and from the location, breaks for refreshments and toilet visits must be considered and planned in advance.

It is especially easy in outshoots for participants to be steered towards taking particular photos, because they seem like obvious subjects to sighted facilitators or because others in the group choose to do so. It is good to build into the schedule some exercises that encourage participants to experiment with their own ideas and record details specific to their experience. On the other hand, participants may wish to record the surroundings they cannot see, especially as they can then hear those photos described and tally the images they captured with their experience of that moment.

Ideas for personal projects

1) One day in my life
Participants should document one day in their life in a set number of photographs, thinking carefully about what they should capture to reflect what is important or typical to them, and how to do this in a photograph.

2) Explore your body
The participants capture close up details of their body in an abstract way using the macro mode on the camera. This can encourage inventive abstract photography without the need for travel or props, and participants can also consider carefully which parts of their body to photograph and why, which can stimulate interesting thought processes about self image, body-confidence or unique experience of the world.

3) Sound and photographs
The participants go outside and record some sounds (see the equipment section for details of digital sound recorders), which then become the reference for what they photograph. The work can finally be presented alongside these recordings with an explanation of the process.

4) My story
Ask the participants to consider their past experiences and choose a number of significant moments in their lives to date. These can be positive or testing moments, provided they impacted on them in some way.
For each chosen moment, the participant takes a photo that represents it or their feelings about it. It could be a re-enactment of an event or meeting, a significant object from the time, an abstract image that reflects the essence of what happened.
The work is presented as a photo-story with audio or written explanations of the stories behind the photos.

5) Representing visual impairment
By using photographic filters or semi-transparent materials with colours or textures, partially sighted participants can explore ways of representing how the world appears to them, symbolically or actually. For some participants finding ways to communicate to others how they see the world can feel like a significant breakthrough. Silver foil, cling film, bubble wrap, plastic bags, plastic bottles, glasses or plastic beakers are all useful props if it is not convenient to source a selection of filters.

6) Obstacles
Take photos to represent any obstacles you encounter, both physical and mental. These can feed into advocacy projects, where the causes of social or physical obstacles can be highlighted to those who can make a difference, whether that is the local community, service providers or policy makers.

7) Dream Photos
Take photos that represent themes or subjects that arise in your dreams, or that represent your aspirations – realistic or not! This can involve the use of props, costumes or symbolic use of objects. Toys can be used to create dioramas and photographed in close-up for surreal scenes.

Captioning and Creative Writing Exercises

1. Compile some newspapers, magazines, photography books etc, and choose a selection of photos to describe to the group (or put participants in pairs provided that one in the pair can see the photograph to describe it to the other). When everyone has an understanding of the style and content of the photo discuss what it could be saying, or what issue/event it could be depicting, and then when everyone has given their thoughts read the accompanying caption or article out loud. This will help participants to understand the importance of the story behind a photo, and think about how the photo can capture a story or message.
   
2. Describe/show a photo to the group, and get everyone to make up a caption for it as if they took it – imagining why they took it and what it means to them. Compare the resulting captions and then reveal the real caption and discuss the differences.
   
3. Interview: Pair up the participants and ask each to describe one of their photographs to the other. The other then interviews them about the photo to ascertain why they took it, what it means to them etc. This could be recorded to capture the content for a caption, or the interviewer can present their findings to the group at the end.