Contextual accounts of a participant

Staff can examine how a participant describes themselves or acts across settings. The categories below identify circumstances of access and expression. A person can contribute different material in each setting, revise it, regard the distinctions as less useful for their own experience.

Public account

A participant presents material for a broad audience through published images, statements, appearances, references. They may emphasize a practice or relationship suitable for that audience. Staff record the context and intended audience before comparing this material with an interview. A public photographic portfolio can establish a sustained interest while leaving private reasons unexplained.

Professional account

A participant describes work, credentials, roles, demonstrated expertise, institutional relationships. A camera can appear as equipment in this account. The interviewer can compare professional use with private attachment, inspect the actual work, ask about a change in practice. A work role supplies context rather than a complete account of the person.

Personal account

A participant describes interests, everyday habits, attachments, relationships outside a formal work presentation. A possession may accompany a recurring activity or friendship. The person chooses the detail available in a particular conversation. Staff attribute it to that contribution and its circumstances.

Private account

A participant shares material within a limited relationship or interview. The permission to examine it and the permission to disclose it receive separate decisions. Staff may use a private question when proposing a bounded exchange while revealing only the agreed question. Permission administration needs enough detail to apply this choice in practice.

Penumbral associations

A participant partly recognizes an inclination or attachment but finds it difficult to express. An unusual choice, invented account, hesitation, repeated return may provide material for discussion. Staff can propose an interpretation, compare it with other encounters, ask the person to examine it. The account remains attributed to its author and open to correction. Projective inquiry develops this operation in more detail.