BLACK IMAGES: BLACK WOMEN UNDER THE GAZE OF PHOTOGRAPHERS IN 19TH-CENTURY BRAZIL
Women, Black women, photography, 19th century, visual culture.
This study aims to analyze representations of Black women in 19th-century Brazilian photography, focusing on the work of six renowned photographers: Alberto Henschel, Christiano Junior, Marc Ferrez, Rodolpho Lindemann, Militão Augusto de Azevedo, and Augusto Stahl. Their activities took place between 1862 and 1889 in the states of Bahia, Pernambuco, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro. The research seeks to understand whether a shared visual culture guided the production of portraits by thesephotographers and to investigate the processes of circulation, appropriation, and construction of this visuality. Furthermore, it examines the cultural impact of these representations on the formation of social imaginaries regarding Black women, as well as the implications such images had for their historical experiences and modes of representation.