think critically about their community, and to begin discussing the everyday social and political forces that influence their lives, was the visual image … Photovoice takes this concept one step further so that the images of the community are made by the people themselves.” Photovoice was first used to empower the silenced rural women in Yunnan Province, China, to influence the policies and programs affecting them. Since then, the method has been used in different settings and populations, such as by refugees in San Diego seeking in–person medical interpretation options, by homeless adults in Ann Arbor, Michigan, by Dr. Claudia Mitchell to support community health workers and teachers in rural South Africa, and by Dr. Laura S. Lorenz of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University in her work with brain injury survivors. Modern implementation In the 21st century, some university professors have used the photovoice model to teach social work students. In addition, it has been used as a tool to engage children and youth, giving them a safe environment and opportunity to communicate their concerns and coping strategies to policymakers and service providers. In other words, photovoice is used at all levels as a tool for self-development, sharing awareness, advocacy, research, needs assessment, monitoring, etc. So the use of photovoice allows one to capture and widen their perspective on all levels of various issues. Variants Also known as "participatory photography" or "photo novella", photovoice is considered a sub–type of "participatory visual methods" or picturevoice which includes techniques such as photo-elicitation and digital storytelling. These techniques allow research participants to create visuals that capture their individual perspectives as part of the research process. An example of this is found in Project Lives, a participatory photography project used to create a new image of project housing dwellers, published in April 2015. Two other forms of picturevoice include paintvoice, stemming from the work of Michael Yonas, and comicvoice, which has been pioneered by John Baird's Create a Comic Project since 2008, and to a lesser extent by Michael Bitz's Comic Book Project. International development In international research, photovoice has been seen to allow participants from the developing world to define how they want to be represented to the international community. The individuals are facilitated and given control to tell their stories and perspectives which empower them to be engaged and maintain a firm sense of authorship over