Capturing Compassion through Photographic Methods

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the value that photographic research methods offer to the study of organizational compassion. We demonstrate this potential by first briefly reviewing the history and usage of photographic research methods in the social sciences and the state of compassion research. We then describe how compassion emerged as a key theme in a field study which utilized photographic methods. From this, we identify four approaches that photographic research methods can be used to extend our understanding of compassion in organizations. Specifically, we clarify how this stream of organizational research can be enhanced by inclusion of photographic methods. We highlight critical research decisions and possible concerns in implementing photographic methods.