Photolanguage © : a method for use with groups
in a therapy or training contex

Claudine Vacheret

The purpose of this special issue is to provide information to the reader about how a Photolanguage© session actually works. Before presenting the setting and its specific features, a few words about the origin of the method and a presentation of the working medium, the Photolanguage© photograph portfolios.

The origins of Photolanguage©

The Photolanguage© method was created in 1965 by a group of psychologists and psycho-sociologists working with teenagers in Lyon . In a totally intuitive way at first, they came up with the idea of using photographs as a activator for the spoken word with young people who had trouble expressing themselves, particularly speaking in front of a group about their various and sometimes painful personal experiences. The first photographs used were black-and-white prints taken by various photographers. To the amazement of the conductors of these first groups, suddenly there was more verbal give-and-take and group members freely participated in the talk with obvious spontaneity and mutual interest. It was clear that group members could take pleasure in listening to each other. Soon after, the same method was applied in the field of adult education, where Photolanguage© continues to be used most frequently, both in the workplace and in the community, in France as well as in other countries. The comments made by adult education trainers or group conductors about using the method indicate its tremendous usefulness. In any case, they all say that they particularly appreciate using the method when starting up a new group or when winding up work with a group (using Photolanguage© as an evaluation technique).

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