Vancouver, B.C.
Swimming Upstream: A Photo Gallery Worth A Thousand Words
Mildred German
PhotoVoice believes everybody should have the opportunity to represent themselves and tell their own story, “that images and words together can effectively express communities and individual’s needs, problems, and desires.”
Mildred German
Vancouver, BC
“The impacts of drug addiction are tremendous. COVID-19 has put our medical care in crisis, and Vancouver is facing an increase in drug overdoses amidst the pandemic. The future remains unstable with the many current social instabilities and mental distresses skyrocket. There too are shortages of healthcare workers.
While taking the first aid course, I learned that there is no general legal duty to help someone in an emergency except for a person who is involved in a motor vehicle accident. Such details made me think of the ever growing gaps and isolation brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and of the fatal consequences brought by isolation to the mental health of many individuals as news of pandemic deaths surround us. Yet, the numbing reality knowing no one around is obliged to save you in tribulations or near-death experiences encourages the questions “Who Is Your Saviour?”.
So, who?
Growing up as a child and as a teen in the 1990s, I was exposed to the culture of grunge and became a fan of Nirvana, Hole, Smashing Pumpkins, and rock music. When Nirvana’s front singer Kurt Cobain passed away I was once again reminded of the social reality of drug use, addiction, and overdoses.
Cobain has been quoted, “Drugs are a waste of time. Drugs are a waste of
time. They destroy your memory and your self-respect and everything that goes along with your self-esteem. They’re no good at all.”
To date, this quote still echoes to me in addition to Nirvana’s music. First step.” -Artist Statement, Photovoice – First Aid / First Step, Mildred Grace German
PHOTOVOICE: A NEW PROGRAM AT THE REACH COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRE
As the new year 2022 begins, a new program was started in January to February 2022 at the REACH Community Health Centre located at 1145 Commercial Drive, Vancouver. As part of Public Health programming, REACH introduced its PhotoVoice initiative for individuals (18+) who have had or are living with mental health issues and/or substance use.
Over 20 members of the East Vancouver neighborhood inspiringly shared their stories in a 6-session sequence where they learned to express their stories through photographs. The 2-month initiative project was facilitated by Faith Tang, a certified recreation therapist (CTRS) who works at the REACH Community Health Centre.
The exhibition was a rare and amazing opportunity to understand some of the prevalent challenges that our community faces. Participants were provided a safe space of photography, group sessions, and a curated exhibition as the grand finale. The community-curated exhibition was entitled “Swimming Upstream: A Photo Gallery Worth A Thousand Words”, which was showcased from March 22 to 24, 2022 at the Britannia Canucks’ Family Education Centre (located at 1655 William Street in Vancouver), walking distance to the REACH Community Health Centre.
The exhibition is also made available online at the REACH’s website:
https://www.reachcentre.bc.ca/news/2022/3/15/photovoice?fbclid=IwAR0CVHo V7ABoAER29N4W7bLzQ-K7tBHnyYcAPF_KPwAzhPYkfQDSJsgHjCA
[Mildred Grace German’s Nirvana at Britannia Secondary School hallway mural]
WHAT IS PHOTOVOICE?
PhotoVoice is a health and well-being program that utilizes therapeutic photography to raise awareness for social change, and to promote health education and the idea of critical consciousness. It aims to empower participants to share their stories and voices through photography. It often includes a discussion group in a safe space where participants can learn photography skills and discuss their reflections through words and visuals.
According to Wikipedia, Photovoice was developed in 1992 by Caroline C. Wang of the University of Michigan, and Mary Ann Burris, Program Officer for Women’s Health at the Ford Foundation headquartered in Beijing, China. Its concept is strongly influenced by documentary photography, the concept of empowerment, feminist theory, and Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed and his idea of ‘critical consciousness’.
Its qualitative method and flexible process can also be combined with grassroots social action; thus Photovoice is also commonly used in community development, international development, public health, and education.
Since Photovoice was first used to empower the silenced rural women in Yunnan Province, China, the method has been used in different settings and populations such as documenting the refugees’ plights, the homelessness in America, the experiences of nurses and healthcare workers, and in treating brain injury survivors, amongst other therapeutic purposes as each photo documents reality.
Mildred Grace German is a Vancouver-based Filipino-Canadian multidisciplinary artist, as well a chef, who lives on the unceded Coast Salish Territories. In order to learn and understand the space that she is situated in,
German practices with a variant in forms of creation. She is also an avid photographer. In the past, her photographs were featured in various venues, including gracing the cover of the Filipino-Canadian youth chapbook writing anthology called Mga Tinig /Voices, which is available at the Vancouver Public Library.