Over UVA Family Weekend, several family groups and other interested UVA community members gathered in Newcomb Hall to intentionally and openly connect through photographs. The prompt was simple: look on your phone and find 1-2 photos that show some defining aspect of the past few months for you. They could show areas where you’ve experienced flourishing or challenges you’ve faced. Each person in the small groups had a few minutes to share about their photos. Then the rest of the group asked questions that invited depth and the photographer shared again.
The Essential Photovoice dialogue structure was created in collaboration between Essential Partners and Interfaith Photovoice, both of which are 30+ year old organizations that specialize in bringing people together across vast differences to engage in meaningful conversation. EP has partnered with Theological Horizons’ Deeper Dialogues Initiative for the past 4 years to cultivate meaningful conversations with members of the UVA and Charlottesville communities.
Ninety percent of Saturday’s participants gave the experience a 4/4 rating of excellence. One participant said the most significant thing they took away from the experience was “the emotional and physical connection between us;” another wrote that while they were not open to the Essential Photovoice process when they first arrived, they realized it has significant value through participating.
Theological Horizons thanks the UVA Parents Program and the Fetzer Institute for their support of this project!