Capturing Their Environment: Youth Voice Shared Through Photography

Middle school students in Southern Illinois learned how to use photography and writing to share insights into their environments. The program is led by The Environmental Health Investigators who work with youth to explore ways they can advocate for their health through photography and monitoring environmental concerns in southwest Illinois.

We are surrounded by our environment… so much, that we often forget to pay attention.

PhotoVoice can help us recognize problems that other people need to be aware of to create change. Or, we may need to be reminded of the strengths of our surroundings which offer places to play and experience peace.

The Environmental Health Investigators team composed a working definition to help youth describe their environment: “Your environment is where you live and what you surround yourself with; everything has an impact on your health.” Youth started their narratives by answering the questions, “What does your environment mean to you?”, “How does your environment make you feel?”, and “What might be some of the positive and negative health effects of living in your environment?”

The photos below showcase the environment from the perspective of four middle schoolers.

The Health of Our Environment

Deforestation is a serious problem that affects everybody – animals too. It has been happening around my community for over two months now. One day I was outside playing with my siblings, and I saw our landlord cutting down trees and starting to build a new house. They cut down three trees with no hesitation. In a month or so they’re planning to cut down the last two trees standing in the yard.
Almost everywhere I go, I rarely see trees. One day I was looking at videos on my phone and I saw this ad. It was about donating money to plant trees around the world. That’s when I really started thinking about the situation. I learned at school that trees clean up the air and create oxygen. If there aren’t any more trees around, we will be inhaling dangerous air. Tree animals, like squirrels and birds, need trees because it’s their home. Put yourself in their shoes. How would you feel if your home was being cut down? If we cut down their homes, they’re forced to move environments. Sometimes animals travel miles just to find a good home. It’s dangerous for them because on their journey they may not be able to find food and they could get attacked by other animals or humans.
Deforestation is a huge problem all around the world and we all need to help. We can get volunteers to plant trees around the world or just in our communities. It will make a big change. You can start by planting one or two trees in your local park, empty yards, or in your backyard. If you live by a community forest, you can plant some tree seeds. Don’t think you can’t make a change in the world, because you can.
By Daijah

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville STEM PhotoVoice, funded by the National Institutes for Health

The Sunset

“I took this photo on Oct. 25^th and it was my best friend’s birthday. Mostly, it’s an amazing photo because the night was warm and I was happy.”
By Jarai

Blog Title: Environmental Health Photovoice Gallery The gallery below showcases the work of our student participants. Each student used their unique voice to share a story about their environment. The Health of Our Environment (Insert *Daijah Photo) Deforestation is a serious problem that affects everybody - animals too. It has been happening around my community for over two months now. One day I was outside playing with my siblings, and I saw our landlord cutting down trees and starting to build a new house. They cut down three trees with no hesitation. In a month or so they’re planning to cut down the last two trees standing in the yard. Almost everywhere I go, I rarely see trees. One day I was looking at videos on my phone and I saw this ad. It was about donating money to plant trees around the world. That’s when I really started thinking about the situation. I learned at school that trees clean up the air and create oxygen. If there aren’t any more trees around, we will be inhaling dangerous air. Tree animals, like squirrels and birds, need trees because it’s their home. Put yourself in their shoes. How would you feel if your home was being cut down? If we cut down their homes, they’re forced to move environments. Sometimes animals travel miles and miles just to find a good home. It’s dangerous for them because on their journey sometimes they won’t be able to find food. They could get attacked by other animals or humans. Deforestation is a huge problem all around the world and we all need to help. We can get volunteers to plant trees around the world or just in our communities. It will make a big change. You can start by planting one or two trees in your local park, empty yards, or in your backyard. If you live by a community forest, you can plant some tree seeds. Don’t think you can’t make a change in the world, because you can. ________________________________________ The Sunset (Insert *Jarai Photo) “I took this photo on Oct. 25th and it was my best friend’s birthday. Mostly, it’s an amazing photo because the night was warm and I was happy.” ________________________________________ ________________________________________ Composting (Insert *Kendall photo) This photo is of my backyard. There are sticks, a little bit of trash, and leaves. When you go outside you see the sticks and leaves and trash. I like to play basketball outside and my one-year-old sister likes to play outside in the yard with us too. The leaves get in the way as well as the sticks when we play. I think we should pick up trash and compost the sticks. Caterpillars and other insects live in the layers of leaves on the ground. Birds feed on them during winter. So raking leaves takes away their source of food. So it's not a good idea to rake all the leaves. So, I would like to leave some leaves on the ground. Also people use leaf blowers to blow leaves which creates noise and air pollution. I would like to encourage my friends and neighbors not to rake all the leaves from the ground and to not use leaf blowers. I would also like to encourage them to compost all of their yard and food waste. ________________________________________ I Enjoy Playing in the Grass (Insert *Makari Photo) I see logs, a cut down tree, grass, leaves, and the porch. The leaves are on the grass because it is fall season, almost winter. Sometimes trees get to be big and the leaves get onto driveways and porches and this reminds me that it’s fall. I like looking at the grass and the mats through the year, though. One of the mats says “welcome” and the other says, “welcome to the nut house”. It has a picture of nuts and squirrels and a small tree house. It's a good situation because I sometimes go outside on the street and play basketball or football on the grass with my dad when he gets here. And then, sometimes, we go out to the basketball court at the park, which is close to where I live. I enjoy looking at the grass and watching it move in the fresh breeze on the sunny days. I go bowling every Saturday and only have a few seconds to look at the grass before I get in the car and go to youth bowling, but I enjoy having more time to look at it. I like playing in the grass, playing football, and then I play in the driveway with my shovel and dig in the rocks, then I put the rocks back when I’m done. Environmental Health Investigators is funded by the Science Education Partnership Award program of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health

Composting

This photo is of my backyard. There are sticks, a little bit of trash, and leaves. When you go outside you see the sticks and leaves and trash. I like to play basketball outside and my one-year-old sister likes to play outside with us too. The leaves get in the way as well as the sticks when we play. I think we should pick up trash and compost the sticks. Caterpillars and other insects live in the layers of leaves on the ground. Birds feed on them during winter. Raking leaves takes away their source of food. So it’s not a good idea to rake all the leaves. So, I would like to leave some leaves on the ground. Also, people use leaf blowers which creates noise and air pollution. I would like to encourage my friends and neighbors not to rake all the leaves from the ground and not use leaf blowers. I would also like to encourage them to compost all of their yard and food waste.
By Kendall

I Enjoy Playing in the Grass

I see logs, a cut-down tree, grass, leaves, and the porch. The leaves are on the grass because it is fall season, almost winter. Sometimes trees get to be big and the leaves get onto driveways and porches and this reminds me that it’s fall.
I like looking at the grass and the mats through the year, though. One of the mats says “welcome” and the other says, “welcome to the nuthouse”. It has a picture of nuts and squirrels and a small treehouse. It’s a good situation because I sometimes go outside on the street and play basketball or football on the grass with my dad when he gets here. And then, sometimes, we go out to the basketball court at the park, which is close to where I live.
I enjoy looking at the grass and watching it move in the fresh breeze on sunny days. I go bowling every Saturday and only have a few seconds to look at the grass before I get in the car and go, but I enjoy having more time to look at it.
I like playing in the grass, and then I play in the driveway with my shovel and dig in the rocks, then I put the rocks back when I’m done.
By Makari

As part of the PhotoVoice process, youth also used The SHOWeD method in their narratives as a tool to add depth. The SHOWeD method is composed of the questions below:

S – What do we SEE in this Photo?

H – What is really HAPPENING in this Photo?

O – How does this relate to OUR lives?

W – WHY does this concern us?

E – Why does this concern EXIST?

D – What can we DO to improve this situation?

Environmental Health Investigators is funded by the Science Education Partnership Award program of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health

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