Family Unity and Black Activism in the Favela: Januário Garcia’s Photographs of the Morro do Salgueiro, Rio de Janeiro, 1983–84

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.