番茄社区

Our research reflects the long-established importance of visual communication and expression. We also study visual methodologies as participatory and co-produced forms of research.

Visual and creative methods include photo production and elicitation, video, art, spatial interviews, and emotion maps. We use these methods in qualitative research to examine the material, embodied, and social contexts of people’s experiences.

Our work includes:

• Co-created films with people experiencing mental illness, coercion, and restraint in Ghana and Indonesia
• Emotion maps of couple’s daily life at home during the COVID-19 lockdowns
• The role of street art in sustainability and social change
• Objects representing couples’ memories of taking MDMA (‘ecstasy’) together
• Photos of couple relationships when they become parents for the second time
• Ethnographic documentaries on topics related to mental health, human rights and traditional and faith-based healing
• Participatory videos and Digital stories about severe mental illness and suicidal behaviour in Low-and-Middle-Income countries, and among people from migrant and refugee backgrounds
• Story Completion and photos representing women’s mental load and emotional labour in working mothers of two children who are in heterosexual cohabiting couple relationships.

Get in touch

We are social, developmental, and cultural psychologists. Our work is also influenced by sociology, anthropology, philosophy, and other disciplines.

We welcome collaboration with researchers and students from any discipline who are passionate or curious about visual methods. We can also provide University fee-based seminars, workshops, and continuing professional development.

To learn more about our work, ask about continuing professional development, join the group, or explore opportunities to work with us, contact Erminia Colucci and Susan Hansen.

Opportunities may be available for Research Assistants, supervisors, MSc or MA students, and PhD students.

Our people

Prof Erminia Colucci

Professor Colucci specialises in Cultural and Global Mental Health. Her work focuses on low-income and middle-income countries, immigrants, and refugees.

Her research interests include human rights, suicide prevention, domestic violence, child neglect, spirituality, and first-hand accounts of mental illness.

She uses arts-based and visual methods in her research, teaching, and advocacy. Her main methods include photography, ethnographic film, and documentary. Professor Colucci is the founder of

Associate Prof Susan Hansen

Dr Hansen is an expert in qualitative methods, including ethnomethodology, discursive psychology, and conversation analysis. She applies these methods to visual data and focuses on everyday sense-making processes.

Her research interests include forensic topics such as sexual consent negotiation, disputed diagnostic categories in psychology, and the psychology of sexualities. She also examines how communities engage with street art and graffiti, including their material interactions and emotional responses.

Dr Deborah Bailey-Rodriguez

Dr Bailey-Rodriguez specialises in attachment theory, family and couple relationships, mental health, and wellbeing.

Her research uses multidimensional qualitative approaches, such as pluralistic methods. It also uses multimodal approaches, including visual and creative methods.

Dr Bailey-Rodriguez has used photo elicitation, object elicitation, and emotion maps in her research. She is now interested in expanding this work to digital technologies.

Dr Katie Anderson

Dr Anderson is an interdisciplinary psychologist. Her research focuses on interpersonal relationships, the evaluation of mental health services, mental wellbeing, and the effects of drugs, particularly MDMA, on mental health and relationships.

Her expertise includes qualitative and visual methods, such as emotion maps, objects, and relationship timelines. She is also developing an interest in mixed-methods studies.

Jude Smit

Jude has worked on research projects in the health and education sectors for more than 18 years. She uses mixed-methods approaches.

Her research focuses on under-represented voices, trauma, suicidality, and suicide prevention. Jude promotes the arts as a way to engage with and support unspoken narratives. She uses arts-based and visual methods in her research and teaching.

Associate Prof Nicola Payne

Dr Nicola Payne is a Health Psychologist who uses mixed methods in health psychology and occupational health psychology.

Her research covers health behaviour change, occupational stress and work-life balance, experiences of long-term health conditions, and women’s health. It has a particular focus on fertility challenges and the workplace.

Her visual methods include photo elicitation and drawings. She is particularly interested in drawings as a communication tool for exploring children’s experiences of illness and long-term health conditions.

Associate Prof Camille Alexis-Garsee

Dr Alexis-Garsee is a Chartered Psychologist and Associate Professor in Health Psychology. She is also Co-Director of the Drug and Alcohol Research Centre.  

She uses mixed methods to study applied health psychology and promote health and wellbeing.

Her research examines:

• The evaluation of theory-based public health interventions that support behaviour change, including interventions related to smoking, vaping, and exercise
• Young people and substance use
• The use of apps, vapes, and other digital technologies to support behaviour change
• The effects of chronic illnesses, including Long COVID, on individuals and their families.

Dr Alexis-Garsee has a strong interest in visual and creative methods. Her work has used drawings to help children with chronic illnesses communicate their experiences. She has also shared findings and supported community engagement through an art gallery and digital infographics.