Community

Community Photovoice

The Rowan Alba Photovoice project originally began as a partnership between Rowan Alba and The University of Edinburgh, as a way of giving voice to people in recovery or who had a difficult and challenging relationship with alcohol through photography. Culminating in an exhibition at The Scottish Parliament, the original project created a platform for the participants that allowed them to express what challenged them in their lives.

Professor Aisha Holloway explains the origins of our Photovoice project

Our Projects

Ending isolation during lockdown

During the Covid-19 Pandemic Rowan Alba Community Lead Tracey Stewart worked with resident artist Sam Rutherford to create a new strategy to support the CARDS Community that was based around art activities and photography.

“COVID-19 deeply affected and further isolated our community. When the CARDS Café events were no longer possible, we needed to find a way to keep these connections alive.”

Tracey Stewart

Rowan Alba Community Lead

They created a Community Zine and distributed art materials and disposable cameras to the community, giving them a reason to get out of their homes and experience the world outside during this strange time. The success of this strategy continued after the pandemic ended, growing into our Community Art Groups, in partnership with The National Galleries of Scotland.

Photovoice participant George explains how he got motivated to start snapping

Bringing the Photovoice project to include our whole community

In May 2025 the Photovoice project was expanded to all of Rowan Alba’s services, including our Temporary and Long-Term supported Accommodation. This expansion is a part of our broader efforts to embed and support a sense of community both within our services and participation in the community that surrounds them.

Tracey and Sam have been distributing ‘old fashioned’ film cameras to residents as a way for them to record their everyday lives and hopefully find a way to tell their stories. We will add to this page as we get the pictures back, so check in again soon to see more! If you want to be the first to know when we share the pictures, sign up for our social media accounts using the links at the foot of this page, or join our newsletter using the link below.