In this article, we focus on the use of the visual for reflection in "alternative" pre-service teacher education and, in particular, we address the question: "How and what can we learn about teacher education using the visual?" By way of illustration, we focus on the use of pre-service teachers' photographs in a public exhibition, participatory video documentary production and pre-service teachers' use of photographs in their professional teaching portfolios. The article draws from research done in relation to three alternative pre-service teacher education projects based at McGill University in Canada and the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.