PhotoLove: A Participatory Photography Approach to Understand Young Men's Same-Sex Desires

Romantic ideation (e.g., envisioning a long-term relationship) is associated with improved sexual and psychological well-being among heterosexual youth. Less is known, however, about how gay, bisexual and queer identified young men (YGBQM) think and talk about love and the value that these romantic ideas may offer to practitioners involved in YGBQM youth development programs. Given that youth are accustomed to expressing themselves using social media, we used a participatory photography approach (“PhotoLove”) to examine how YGBQM conceptualize the role of same-sex love in their lives. We asked YGBQM (ages 18-24) to use visual material, either by creating a collage or taking photographs, to explore the topic of romantic love. Once participants completed the creative portion of the project, we conducted face-to-face qualitative interviews with participants (N = 12; ages 18 to 24) on (1) what constitutes ideal characteristics of their romantic relationships, (2) past relationship experiences, and (3) the meaning of sexuality in their lives. In addition, participants discussed the process and meaning behind their creation. In our presentation, we describe our methodology and discuss how participants' art exemplifies several themes salient to their sexuality, including (1) long-term aspirations for love, companionship and children; (2) acknowledgement of romantic love as a component linked to their personal and social acceptance of their sexuality, and (3) commitment and support as integral to their conception of love. We discuss how our methodology and findings may be used for social media advocacy and policies and programs aiming to empower same sex attracted youth.