What is Sight Beyond My Sight (SBMS)?

SBMS is a photographic method that seeks to understand individual and group knowledge through photography, journaling, and discussions. This method provides critical insights about issues important to a community.  In essence, SBMS seeks to empower communities to share who they are, without the outsider’s perceived hegemonic biases. 

Training manual

Student teams developed a training manual. In this manual was a description of the immersive learning project, bios of the student participants, bios of the community partners, an outline of the immersive learning schedule, training material on the equipment the participants would be using, ethical considerations, and consent forms. This is a sample of the training manual.

Participant interviews and data analysis

During an SBMS interview session, four items occur: 1) The participants are asked to select their top 20 photographs that most represented the overarching question (showing the identity of the people, places, and things that they wanted to show); 2) Participants sort their top 20 photographs into thematic piles to elicit categories of interpretation; 3) Participants provide a verbal explanation of what they were trying to represent in the photos; and then, 4) Participants provide their top three photographs as best representing their themes. The participants will provide titles for each of their piles and their top three photographs. This helps establish the themes.

Participants are asked not to discuss their photographs with one another before they come together for the focus group session.

Focus Group

Focus groups are designed for the participants to come together and discuss their themes and come to a general consensus of how they understand the respective topic. In this context, the community participants were looking at issues of revitalization in the ThomasPark/Avondale community.