EMPOWERING PHOTOGRAPHY Empowering photography, a pedagogic method that Miina Savolainen has developed personally, has been applied in the 21st century in education, care work and therapy, as well as in the workplace and as a means of reinforcing family ties. It is not phototherapy, and thus does not require the professional skills of a therapist. Provided that the central requirements of the method are met, it can be used in e.g. care work as a supplement to existing professional skills. The method of empowering photography is wider than the approach used in The Loveliest Girl in the World - in addition to interactive photo sessions and portraits it also makes use of old family photos, and new photos are taken to explore themes that are central to one’s contemporary everyday life. The pictures and the photography stimulate the exploration and construction of the subject’s life story, family ties and her own facets and roles, helping to make sense of emotional and incoherent memories, improve reciprocal relationships and ways of interacting, and discover hidden depths. Empowering photography is based on equality, with the inherent power of the photographer being dismantled and replaced by interaction and dialogue and the testimonial power of the photo being called into question in order to emphasise the subjective experience. The subject is entitled to choose the pictures they want to use to define themselves and their lives, something that not even a close family member can do if the empowerment is to reinforce the subject’s inner strength. This is a principle that also applies to care work. The idea of equality means that, for photography to be used as an empowering method with other people, the subject has to go through the photographic process personally. Only after experiencing the emotions related to posing, seeing one’s own portrait, and going through old photographs of everyday life can one encounter other people’s unique experiences with sufficient sensitivity and respect. A seemingly neutral photograph can bear witness to the most profound pain or the deepest joy in that person’s life. It is the aspect of equality that gives the method power, and making this method a part of their lives makes people eager to spread the word to their family and friends.