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INVOLVING MIGRANT WOMEN IN RESEARCH: POTENTIAL BENEFITS AND LIMITATIONS OF THE PARTICIPATORY PHOTO INTERVIEW

This article demonstrates experiences concerning the participatory photo interview, which was used to generate data on the public spaces used by Kurdish migrant women in Vienna. Potential benefits and limitations of the method as well as observations made during field research are addressed. Additionally, strategies are suggested to overcome possible difficulties, which can occur over the course of a study implementing the participatory photo interview. This method has enabled the participants to “show” how they perceive the city of Vienna. It appears that they are satisfied with their respective lives in the city, as they have enough spaces to fulfil their culture besides expressing self-determination. Further, results reveal that involving the interview partners in research is enriching for both the participants and the researcher.


Introduction
This paper demonstrates experiences concerning the participatory photo interview during a field research. 1 The aim is to attempt to identify the potential benefits and limitations of the method in the course of answering the questions of how Kurdish 2 women in Vienna use public spaces in everyday routine and further which public spaces they use in daily life. 3 Conduction of a participatory photo interview seemed to be the best method to generate the data for three reasons. First, as the camera accompanies the participants, 4 photos deliver information, which an interview alone cannot gather. Tinkler (2013) argues the following: "Photos portray particulars that the researcher would not otherwise know to ask about; they offer information that interviewees may have forgotten or would not think to mention" (p. 179). Second, it is stated that the method motivates people for the interview (Kolb, 2008a). Finally, this method "engages and improves communication with participants from disadvantaged groups, particularly the elderly, children, and those who are illiterate or have little education" (Kolb, 2008a, p. 11-13).
The significance of this paper is that four low educated women and two illiterate women were allowed to express themselves using visual data. In the public discourse, migrants are represented commonly as a stereotype and monotype, e.g., "guest worker" in blue work coat, women with headscarf (e.g., Wenk&Krebs, 2007, Hintermann, 2010Rosenberger&Sauer, 2012). This paper presents a twist on these portrayals by allowing migrants to (re)present their points of view. It seems that the woman appraised in this study are acting and decision-making subjects as they have their preferred spaces and develop strategies to overcome the effects of patriarchy such as double work (e.g., child rearing and work). Additionally, whereas the focus of studies on migration lies mostly on the negative aspects of migrants´ lives such as integration, geriatric healthcare (e.g., Weiss et al., 2007;Barkhordarian, 2013), etc., current research shows a positive perception of life in migration, as the participants are mostly satisfied with their respective lives in Vienna. 5 A reflection on experiences via the participatory photo interview method is important for two reasons. First, the researcher faced unexpected "problems". Therefore, this reflection might be helpful in enhancing the theoretical reach of this particular method. Second, an extensive literature review reveals that with the invention of the camera, people started to take pictures without great difficulty, namely, they did not need special education and the activity was relatively cheap (e.g., Sontag, 1978;Bourdieu, 1981;Berg, 2001

Faime Alpagu
The first part of the article addresses the method, the second part reflects on the author´s experiences with the method and the final part discusses observations made regarding field research and briefly presents two main findings.

The Participatory Photo Interview
In sociological research, pictures 6 have mainly been used as illustrations and evidence rather than for analytical purposes (e.g., Banks, 2007;. Meanwhile, sociology increasingly deals with images themselves to generate data and to be analysed as data. Long before sociology, it was anthropology, which used the camera as a tool in the field. However, researchers initially used it as a support, for example, in order to observe the field, where researchers or professional photographers took the photos instead of participants. The anthropologists Collier and Collier (1991) conducted a photo interview for the first time as a method in anthropological studies. In this study, a professional photographer took photos of local living situations. Then the researchers interviewed local people using these photos (Kolb, 2008a).
In a sociological study, however, Douglas Harper (1987) used for the first time the medium of photos in order to understand the view of respondents. In his study on a mechanic, Harper himself photographed the interview partner in his workshop, and eventually talked with the mechanic about the photographs and his work. It was Ulf Wuggenig (1990), who for the first time let the interview partners take photographs themselves in a sociological study. Consequently, the participants played an active role and could take images from their specific point of view. In his study, which was about the lifestyle of people, Wuggenig gave the participants a single-use camera and asked them to take photos of important objects and artefacts in their respective living rooms.
He then conducted an interview just after the participant shot the images (Kolb, 2008a). The participatory photo interview by Kolb is based on the method of Wuggenig. Bettina Kolb has conducted various studies using the participatory photo interview as a data generating method. She used the method in various researches on advertisement in public spaces, where she has asked participants to take "photos of advertisements on billboards they liked or found interesting" (Kolb, 2008a, p. 7). In conducting her PhD thesis, she used the method to document participants' "orientations towards personal concepts of illness and health" (Kolb, 2001;2008a). More recently, she has used the method in two different interdisciplinary studies called SUCCESS and HAMMAM "to give local residents a voice in a scientific process" (2008a, p. 7).
Kolb argues that the method has the following advantages: The photo interview method is useful for eliciting local perspectives on daily life and involving local residents in a scientific research process. Using the photo interview, local cultural and social settings become visible as residents take photos that show their perspectives on the research question and their experiences with and understandings of the local context (2008a, p. 4).
The method intensely integrates the participants into the study by having them actively take photos. Furthermore, it enables the researcher to approach the field as openly and as unaffected as possible in order to study the views and lives of the respondents (Kolb, 2008a;2008b). Moreover, in this way photography serves "as a means to peer in to the everyday lives of participants, because the camera can go everywhere where researcher cannot" 7 (Tinkler, 2013, p. 150).
The participatory photo interview consists of four phases (Kolb, 2001;2008a;2008b) and every stage has a decision to take into consideration: a. Opening phase: In this phase, the respondents are asked to take photographs depending on the research question. It is important to talk about how much time they have to take pictures and how many they should take. Moreover, it should 2015, 2(1): 186-206 (191) Faime Alpagu be taken into consideration whether training is needed and whether the participants already have a camera. If not, the researcher should provide one. b. Active photo shooting phase: The participants take photos of themselves according to the task they have been assigned and time schedule they have been given. Depending on the circumstances, the time schedule might not always work smoothly, as will be explored later.
c. Decoding phase: The researcher conducts an interview based on the picture or pictures taken by participants. One pending decision is to decide the kind of interview that best suits the research design. Depending on the research question, a semi-structured photo interview can be conducted. If needed, a narrative-biographic interview can be done in addition. Here it is also important to clarify which images will be discussed. The interviewees can, for example, decide on which pictures they will speak about. The respondents are thus in an expert role and describe what the picture represents and what they wanted to show with the photograph (Kolb, 2008b). In the following, the research method -except for the last stage 9 of the method due to length limitations -is reflected on.

Reflection on the Participatory Photo Interview Method
Field research started in May 2012 and ended in January 2013. Six women between the ages of 42 and 46 participated in the project. Three were employed as cleaners and cooks in childcare facilities such as a Kindergarten and crisis centre, and three were housewives. The highest completed education among the four was compulsory education of nine years; two were illiterate. Four women took photographs during summer and two in winter. The contents of the photos varied from photos taken in food stores to photos of people, buildings, nature, and Christmas preparations. Photos also included images from a Mosque and photos of a Kurdish club. In line with the research question, the following instruction was formulated along with the following question: Where do you spend your time when you go out of your apartment? Please do not take any photos in apartments but only photographs of places in Vienna. There was no limit placed on the number of photos to be taken, but the women were asked to select photos about which they first or especially wanted to speak about. Beginners to the method of participatory photo interview are particularly recommended in advance to limit the number of the photos so that it would be easier to "have control over the look of photos" (Tinkler, 2013, p. 158) both for the researcher and participants.
Only two women were familiar with the camera: one had her own camera, and the other had previously used the same camera (camera was owned by her family). All other women were loaned a camera and shown how to use it. Except in two cases, photos were taken with a digital camera. Even though a disposable camera was recommended (e.g., Kolb, 2008a;Tinkler, 2013), such a camera proved to be inadequate in this case. One reason was rather technical, as not all pictures were developed. As a result, the two participants who had used such a camera were disappointed. The other reason was that the participants did not find the amount of images enough as these cameras have a limited amount of poses. Further, the quality of some photos was poor.
Consequently, the researcher decided not to use this type of camera any longer.
Even though the decision to not to limit the amount of photos was challenging for the researcher, 10 it was in favour of the respondents. On the one hand, they wanted to take as many photos as possible, and on the other hand, they tended to take photographs showing the "exception rather than the rule" (Thomson, 2011, p. 174).
Although the participants knew that the focus of the research was on their daily lives, they hoped to be able to take pictures of special occasions, for example, while traveling abroad, rather than their day-to-day activities. They were disappointed that the researcher explicitly asked for photos only taken in Vienna. As a solution, some participants took as many photos as possible in order to be able to sort out the "best" images. The number of photos varied from nine to 52. 11 Berg (1994) notes that until the 1990s, photography was exclusively a matter of the upper class. Nevertheless, with the introduction of Box from Kodak, photography became a part of mass media. He distinguishes between professional, amateur and home mode 12 (Knipser) photographs and suggests that the first makes a living from photography, the second lives for photography and the third is not interested in the technical or esthetical aspects of the photo (p.193). The latter are ordinary people, who represent mainly themselves, their everyday lives, desires and imagination, and focus usually on the special moments of daily life rather than daily life itself. Traveling, weddings, etc. are occasions for photography. However, the "ugly photos" are not tolerated because as Sontag puts it, "[p]eople want the idealized image: a photograph of themselves looking their best" (1978, p. 85;Bourdieu, 1981).
In some cases, the participants were unable to take all the photos they wanted to all places that seemed important to them and which they regularly visited. For example, two participants could not take photos of the Mosque, even though they wanted to. As a result, the following question was asked: "Did you take all photos that you would have liked to take?" If the answer was that the participant had not achieved the amount of photos they had hoped for, the following question was asked (added after the first interview): "What else would you have liked to have photographed?" (See page 8). The aim of this question was to overcome limitations arising from the restricted time in which participants were to take photos. In this way, the participants could mention all places they visited regularly.
Reasons for why participants had been unable to take all desired photos included conflict with their work schedules, but the predominant reason was that most of the 2015, 2(1): 186-206 (194) Faime Alpagu participants tended to organize themselves according to the needs of their husband and children. For instance, some interview appointments were made according to their husband's and children's schedule where their needs were well taken care of ahead of time (where laundry, cooking, etc. were done regardless of whether they also worked).
This can be discussed in two ways. First, this situation is the result of the patriarchal system, which causes woman to face double work. Second, it can also be seen as a strategy to overcome the results of patriarchy, meaning that these women are acting individuals who are aware of the system. They attempt to find space for themselves within their limited possibilities. In that sense, they reserved time for themselves without creating conflict between themselves and their husband and children. Jin 13 and Ruken note that women previously met each other on Saturdays in the Mosque but as some of their children had classes and their husbands worked, they could not be flexible; they had to be at home at a certain time. Eventually they postponed the meeting to Sunday when husbands would be at home to take care of children. The second suggestion -which states that the women's actions are purposeful in the sense that they tended to overcome the results of patriarchy -is also supported by their attitudes toward the researcher, as they participated in the research for the reason, among others, to support a woman. They believe that through education a woman can overcome suppression of all kinds. Hence, they are aware of patriarchy and try to make it better for the next generation. Following Berg's (1994) assertion that the photos represent their desires, it is suggested that the efforts to take "different" photos shows that these women desire a change in their lives, even if they do not always explicitly express it .
The method had some unexpected consequences, due to its considerably time consuming and costly nature. However, the consequences were also related to the background of the target group. As mentioned before, the participants of this paper were from a disadvantaged group in the sense that, e.g., they had little or no education and were not technically skilled women. Further, they were originally from rural areas of Turkey and migrants to Austria. As mentioned earlier, except for two, none of the woman had ever taken photos before this project. Consequently, it was observed that the camera initially "scared" them. Therefore, they were first instructed about taking photos after the initial meeting where they had been asked to take part in the research.
The participants had two weeks to take photographs on their own. Afterwards the researcher met the participants, retrieved the camera and downloaded the pictures (as the participants were not able to send the pictures online). Accordingly, the interview could not be conducted until the third meeting. In some cases, it took more than a month before an interview could be organized.
The method is also costly. As the women were not technically skilled, the possibility of showing the photos on the screen of a laptop was ruled out. Because it was important that, if necessary, the interviewees had the opportunity to browsewithout the intervention of the researcher -through their photos. Thus, the photos were printed in colour for each participant, so that they could also see other photos in parallel if they wished. Furthermore, use of a disposable camera was also (camera itself and development of the images) costly. 14 The development of the photos took about three to four days, which meant even more time.
A semi-structured interview was conducted which consisted of the following questions: Even though the strength of an interview method that utilizes photos is that it elicits comprehensive and longer answers (e.g., Kolb, 2008a;2008b;Tinkler, 2013), this may not always be the case. The questions were actually formulated as a help tool.
Nonetheless, it appeared that semi-structured questions were needed. It was difficult for some participants to relate the interview with the photos. It was not always necessary to ask all the questions, but especially participants with particularly low selfesteem needed to receive a verbal prompt in order to share their experience. Moreover, they hardly described the photos. Tinkler (2013) describes the study of Katherine Davies and Jennifer Mason as an example of a case and argues that, "[s]ometimes interviewees seem to have little to say. This can be because they perceive that photos require no explanation, in which case it may be necessary to ask for elaboration" (p. 176).
In the case of this study, sometimes participants had the feeling that the photos did not need an explanation, but difficulties arose mainly due to a lack of selfconfidence. It was observed that the addressed women were sometimes reluctant to take part in this process. The impression was that they were of the opinion that only educated people should be interviewed, as educated opinions are more valued.
Participants often said the following: "I photographed this but I am not sure if it helps".
They did not want to say something "wrong". Further, they were not sure whether the photos were "beautiful" enough. Accordingly, they expected to be asked first or given a prompt, and they needed confirmation that they had completed the task correctly.
At this point, it is important to mention that the method has the effect of empowerment, as also stated by Kolb (2008a;2008b). At the beginning, the interviewees found their lives not to be so interesting and were surprised that a researcher wanted to talk to them about their "ordinary" lives. Further, participants who had never before taken photos were sceptical as to whether they could manage the task. Although it seemed to be complicated, they enjoyed participating in the research. The reason for this seems to be that by taking photo, participants gained the feeling of having done something -achieved something -which was appreciated. All participants were very excited about seeing the photos printed out. Four of them wanted to keep the photos as a reminder. Family members also showed interest; some had also taken photos, though these were not included in the analysis.
It was moreover observed that the respondents mostly did not pay attention to the details in the photos. They had taken the photos mostly upon instinct and without reflection. Accordingly, -as Bettina Kolb already stated-the photos highlighted conscious encoding but also showed areas of tension, which were accidentally "smuggled" into the image of the respondents (Kolb, 2001, p. 8). They were either surprised or showed no interest in the detail when asked. 15

Further Observations on the Field Research
All interviews were conducted at participants' homes. This was a fairly obvious and unspoken decision. It seemed that these women met others mostly at home, at a social club or in the mosque, where they go regularly. They do not have the habit of meeting in a coffee house with friends or acquaintances, as meeting at home is more practical in that they are able to do their household chores without real interruption. This was evidenced by the fact that some of the participants cooked during the interview, both for the interviewer as a guest and also for family members.
All participants were mostly reliable and kept the scheduled appointments for the interviews. However, the exact dates had to be negotiated in the short term, since participants were not able to estimate in advance when they would have time. In addition to the work, they often had medical appointments. In most cases, exact times were not determined, but instead a general timeframe was indicated. It also occurred that one participant forgot the date of the interview; thus, participants were reminded of the appointment a day before or on the day of the event. Hence, it was actually better to identify short-term appointments.
The use of images in the apartments was another observable aspect. While in some apartments, only Koran verses were visible as images, in other residences photographs of people were hanging. Photos of people consisted mainly of family members but also of political personalities the family supported and Alevi Dedes. 16 In some cases, both Koran verses and photos of people were hung on the wall or on glass display cases. This difference could come from discussions on the prohibition of human images in Islam, since there was mainly a lack of pictures of people in the homes of religious families. Further, a woman in the mosque refused to participate in the study with the explanation that she was a pilgrim and that it would be a sin to take photos.
Nevertheless, interview partners seemed to have had different perceptions about the usage of images in Islam. For example, in the apartments of two religious interview partners, many photos of people were hung on the walls, regardless of the fact that one of them was also a pilgrim.
The discussion about the topic seems to be controversial. According to Almir Ibric (2004), the Islamic prohibition of images has a pre-Islamic origin. It has nothing to do with hostility towards images in terms of the artistic activity. The purpose is solely a ban of polytheism. God is the creator of existence. This means that only he can present to the people the world as it is. The human being, however, as God's representative on earth (Halifa), may only undertake the creative and/or other artistic activity as long as it does not compete with God. Silvia Naef (2004) also refers to polytheism and argues that the Koran has no verses contemplating the question of images. She suggests that the most frequently cited verse 17 concerning the ban on images focuses on worship of the sacrificial stones (Opferstein). This verse should therefore be understood in the context of the fight against polytheism. The word "sûra" (image) appears only once in the Koran, namely, when the creation of man is mentioned. In the Hadiths, 18 however, there Faime Alpagu are four themes with regard to pictures. According to one of them, images are impure and therefore incompatible with the exercise of prayer because "the angels do not enter the house where there is a dog or a pictorial representation" 19 (as cited in Naef, 2004, p. 15). After the conquest of Mecca, Muhammad prayed, for example, only after he destroyed all graven images (Götzenbilder) (Ibid.). This could be the reason why some of the participants did not have any images of people in their apartments.

Main Findings and Conclusion
The first important finding is that the participants perceive Vienna as a Kurdish women-friendly city since it simultaneously promotes their autonomy and selfdetermination, and maintenance of their traditions. Technical and social infrastructure such as public transport, and the health and education system are the main reason for this perception. They enjoy Vienna as tidy, safe and clean. For example, two of the participants, who come from places with limited infrastructure and prevalent patriarchal culture, attach a big importance to public transport. In their village, it was hardly possible for these women to have such autonomy or mobility when, e.g., going to the hospital which was mostly in the city, and/or to shopping. They needed somebody to drive them. In Vienna, however, they have more opportunities to be mobile thanks to public transport. Helin could, e.g., ride the subway to her sister without being accompanied by her husband, as photo 1 shows.  In closing, this paper discussed observations made during the field research and the potentials and limitations of the participatory photo interview process (within the first three stages). It appears that the method is useful in involving disadvantaged groups and binding them to the research, as the literature above suggests. Moreover, it proved suitable in generating data according to the research question in that despite the participants' attempts to show an "idealized image" (Sontag, 1978), in the end, they still took pictures of their daily lives. Consequently, the method enabled migrant women to "show" their spaces in Vienna. This would be difficult to achieve solely through interviews. In addition, the main impact of the method of this project was its empowering effect on these women. They learned to be more confident in themselves 2015, 2(1): 186-206 (202) Faime Alpagu and enjoyed the interest that was shown in their "ordinary" life, which they also learned to appreciate during the research process.
The limitations of the method (time and cost issues, possible technical complications and problems during the interview situation such as generating selfnarratives) however can be overcome by being aware of the possible difficulties and by constant reflection during the research process. 1 The data for this paper is based on author's master's thesis titled "Eine Fotobefragung: Räume der Kurdischen Frauen in Wien". 2 In Austria, the Kurdish identity is challenged in two ways. First, a Kurdish person is perceived by the Austrian majority as a Turk. If the Kurdish person replies to this misjudgment with the remark that he/she is a Kurd, this insistence on a specifically Kurdish identity produces tensions with the Turkish minority living in Austria, who do not want to recognize a specific Kurdish identity. So how does a Kurdish person react if addressed in a sociological study -which does not deal with a political theme with regard to the Turkish-Kurdish question -decisively as a Kurd in the face of this difficult starting position? The starting point of this study in considering exclusively Kurdish individuals as interviewees was due to curiosity towards this question. This ended up as a crisis experiment (Garfinkel 1967), which could be a topic of another paper. 3 This paper does not aim to answer the research question of the thesis, but it is rather a reflection on the method. Only two main findings will be presented briefly in order to give an idea about the results. Further detailed results can be found in the thesis. 4 The terms "interview partner", "respondent", "interviewee" and "participant" are used here synonymously in order to first show possible terms used in qualitative field research and second to achieve a better reading flow. 5 The fact that the interview partners consist exclusively of Kurdish women could play a role in relation to this assessment. These women are all originally from neglected regions of Turkey in which politics of ethnicity and the values of patriarchal society shape the lives of individuals. As Kurdish women, they belong to a disadvantaged group in Turkey. In Vienna, however, their experiences show that in comparison to Turkey they have a better life as a Kurdish woman. This does not mean that there is no discrimination against migrants or there are no other problems faced by migrants. It is important to differentiate that to be a migrant does not mean to be exclusively disadvantaged. As this paper shows, there are numerous advantages of migration. However, the difficulties they face (lack of knowledge of German language, having low-income jobs because of low education, etc.) can not be neglected. 6 There is a distinction between the terms "image" and "picture" in English.  states that the difference is not clear enough (.p.21). Both concepts are interchangeably used here. 7 Every photo is constructed, i.a., by the photographer´s standpoint. There is a comprehensive discussion about the relation of photography with reality (e.g., Sontag, 1978;Böhme, 1999;Berg, 2001;Tinkler, 2013;Geimer, 2014). 8 For suggestions of visual data analysis, see, e.g., Müller-Doohm, 1997;Raab, 2008;Kolb, 2008a;2008b;Müller, 2011;Tinkler, 2013 9 The collected material (photos) and the narrations generated (photo interviews) were analysed with the Grounded Theory (Strauss, 1991) as this method makes it especially possible to analyze the latent structure of the interviews (Rosenthal, 2005). 10 Reason for this was too many photos taken in some cases. 11 As the researcher was delivering a camera to a participant at a mosque, another woman asked if she could also participate. After two weeks, she gave back the camera and decided not to take part in an interview with the explanation that she could not take enough photos, as she had not enough time. In fact, she had taken 35 Photos. The author observed that this particular woman did not find taking pictures of her daily life to be interesting. Instead, she wanted to take pictures during her trip to Germany and in a place outside of Vienna. The author had asked her to take only images in Vienna. 12 Original is italicized. 13 All names are anonymized. 14 All costs were covered by the author.