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Quaderni di Psicoterapia Cognitiva - Open Access

Studies and researches

No. 53 (2023)

Narrative photography and the co-construction of fairytales during the lockdown: “Once upon a time, there was a magical crown”

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/qpc53-2023oa16930
Submitted
December 6, 2023
Published
2023-12-28

Abstract

“Once upon a time there was a magical crown” is a social narrative photography project carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic. Its primary focus was on families with children with no access to their usual activities and external assistance during the lockdown.
Adults were invited to create a magical crown with their children using materials available in the house, invent a fairytale about the crown, and share both the fairytale’s text and a picture of the crown on a dedicated Facebook group page. The project aimed to enhance the quality of parent-children time by fostering collaborative creation, emotional expression, and shared experiences. The project received 202 contributions, including collective creations involving
over 300 children, as well as individual contributions from 114 participants.
The qualitative analysis of the texts unveiled that the crown was perceived to possess the ability to solve problems (26%), shield from disasters (24%), bring joy, friendship, and
peace (19%), enable travel (5%), overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges (15%), foster understanding (10%), and inspire life changes (4%). Among the emotions mentioned in the fairytales, happiness prevailed (47%), often serving as the traditional happy ending in the stories. Additionally, more than half of the stories unfolded in enclosed environments.

We believe that the collaborative creation of fairytales and photographs served as a valuable psychosocial intervention. It facilitated the integration process of the pandemic experience, enabling emotional expression, and mitigating feelings of loneliness.

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