‘A Year in Greece’: Adolescent Refugees Create a Digital Photographic Exhibition

Olga Grigoropoulou, Maria Papadopoulou & Katerina Makri

Digital media have the dynamics to play a crucial role in the positive (re)settlement and identity formation of adolescents with refugee experience. However, in practice, this can be challenging and complex. The present pilot study focused on enhancing the digital, multimodal skills of two unaccompanied adolescents of Afghan origin through a photography-based project. The research aimed to boost the two refugee adolescents’ visual literacy skills by implicating them in a Digital Photographic Exhibition. The Multiliteracies pedagogy was used for the courses held at the premises of an NGO in Athens, while the Grammar of Visual Design was used as a guide for deepening the visual analysis of photographs. The two adolescents analyzed photos using the appropriate metalanguage, and produced the Exhibition, thus, fostering their ‘visibility’ and affirming their identity in the host country.

Key words: refugee youth, digital media, multimodality, Grammar of Visual Design, adolescents