What happens when a newsroom shares a camera and authorship with the community it serves? Signal Cleveland has been exploring that question through a series of neighborhood photowalks that reimagine visual journalism as a collaborative practice.
Led by CatchLight Local fellow Michael Indriolo, the photowalks invite local residents to document the places they call home. Together, they walk, talk, photograph, and ultimately publish images side-by-side as co-authors.
“Regardless of my technical understanding of photography, my point-of-view on the city is incomplete,” Indriolo said. “By compiling dozens of perspectives on different parts of the city, we can collectively weave together a more complicated reality of Cleveland. I’m very curious about whether or not we can approach a shared truth, or maybe create one.”
The project emerged from a recognition of the city’s deep divisions, shaped by geography and a long history of racial exclusion. Photowalks offer a way to move beyond oversimplified stories about different parts of the city and instead create space for residents to share context, memory, and their lived experiences.
The differences in perspective often become visible on the walks themselves. During a photowalk in the Clark-Fulton neighborhood, resident Jean Paul Hernandez pointed to an area of vacant lots and named his friends who lived in the homes that once stood there. Where Indriolo saw open fields with overgrown grass, Hernandez saw memories tied to his community.
“The folks who’ve taken me out on these photowalks are often looking at the same things through their own personal connections to them. They’re photographing memories and hopes. Their pictures pull us into internal worlds and allude to how those worlds shape — and are shaped by — external landscapes,” Indriolo said.
The response to the project has been deeply encouraging. Readers quickly connected with the work, often writing in to share their own neighborhood stories. The photowalks have resonated especially on social media, where participants actively share the images within their own networks.
Indriolo hopes the photowalks can also create space for people who may feel left out of traditional avenues of civic engagement in Cleveland to weigh in on local issues.
“It’s important to dig into the ways people have taken ownership of the communities they call home,” Indriolo said. “Neighborhoods are more than the sum of their parts. They aren’t just parcels of land, they’re the shared legacies of countless individuals building lives together.”
See more images from Signal Cleveland’s photowalks in the gallery below or visit their website for more details.
