{"title":"Family Unity and Black Activism in the Favela: Januário Garcia’s Photographs of the Morro do Salgueiro, Rio de Janeiro, 1983–84","authors":"Abigail Lapin Dardashti","doi":"10.1080/03087298.2021.1958500","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This article examines Afro-Brazilian photographer Januário Garcia’s images of the favela Morro do Salgueiro in Rio de Janeiro, shot from late 1983 to early 1984. I argue that through his depictions of traditional family units, architectural details and children in front of Rio’s cityscapes, Garcia made activist photography that showcased the favela as a humane and family-oriented place, in opposition to the government and white elite’s historical denigration of such neighbourhoods – hilltop shantytowns with predominantly Black residents, often located next to wealthy neighbourhoods. Garcia positioned the favela’s Afro-Brazilian residents as active contributors to the city’s modern built environment, challenging previous associations of the Black figure with folkloric and rural spaces. In addition, his images openly display the favela’s poverty – an indelible mark of Brazil’s persistent racism – as a way to combat discrimination and assert Black consciousness in a country that sought to erase the presence of African heritage especially in centralised southeastern cities.","PeriodicalId":13024,"journal":{"name":"History of Photography","volume":"44 1","pages":"287 - 308"},"PeriodicalIF":0.3000,"publicationDate":"2020-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"History of Photography","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03087298.2021.1958500","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"艺术学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"0","JCRName":"ART","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
This article examines Afro-Brazilian photographer Januário Garcia’s images of the favela Morro do Salgueiro in Rio de Janeiro, shot from late 1983 to early 1984. I argue that through his depictions of traditional family units, architectural details and children in front of Rio’s cityscapes, Garcia made activist photography that showcased the favela as a humane and family-oriented place, in opposition to the government and white elite’s historical denigration of such neighbourhoods – hilltop shantytowns with predominantly Black residents, often located next to wealthy neighbourhoods. Garcia positioned the favela’s Afro-Brazilian residents as active contributors to the city’s modern built environment, challenging previous associations of the Black figure with folkloric and rural spaces. In addition, his images openly display the favela’s poverty – an indelible mark of Brazil’s persistent racism – as a way to combat discrimination and assert Black consciousness in a country that sought to erase the presence of African heritage especially in centralised southeastern cities.
这篇文章考察了非裔巴西摄影师Januário Garcia拍摄于1983年末至1984年初的里约热内卢Morro do Salgueiro贫民窟的照片。我认为,通过对里约城市景观前传统家庭单元、建筑细节和儿童的描绘,加西亚拍摄了积极的摄影作品,展示了贫民窟是一个人道和面向家庭的地方,反对政府和白人精英对这些社区的历史诋毁——以黑人为主的山顶棚户区,通常位于富裕街区旁边。加西亚将贫民窟的非裔巴西居民定位为城市现代建筑环境的积极贡献者,挑战了之前黑人人物与民俗和乡村空间的联系。此外,他的照片公开展示了贫民窟的贫困——这是巴西持续存在的种族主义的不可磨灭的标志——作为一种打击歧视和维护黑人意识的方式,这个国家试图抹去非洲遗产的存在,尤其是在东南部的中心城市。
期刊介绍:
History of Photography is an international quarterly devoted to the history, practice and theory of photography. It intends to address all aspects of the medium, treating the processes, circulation, functions, and reception of photography in all its aspects, including documentary, popular and polemical work as well as fine art photography. The goal of the journal is to be inclusive and interdisciplinary in nature, welcoming all scholarly approaches, whether archival, historical, art historical, anthropological, sociological or theoretical. It is intended also to embrace world photography, ranging from Europe and the Americas to the Far East.