“A SOUVENIR OF LOURENÇO MARQUES”: photographic albums of C. S. Fowler, J. & M. Lazarus and José dos Santos Rufino (1887-1929)

Abstract

Abstract:  The  aim  of  this  article  is  to  analyze  some  photographic  albums  in  Mozambique  between 1887  and  1929.  The  chronology  refers  to  a  period  during  the  affirmation  of  the  Portuguese  Colonial Empire in Africa –especially in Angola and in Mozambique –in order to protect some territories from British and German interests. As the scramble for Africa got intensified, photography was a powerful ally  of  a  territorial  and  administrative  policy  of  setting  in  order  to  recordand  register  the  places  and their natives. Organized into photographic albums, photographs reveal a set of views of Mozambique, especially  from  Lourenço  Marques,  in  order  to  reveal  a  cosmopolitan  Africa  in  the  light  of “modernists” projects. In other words, the emerge of a “white Africa”.

Keywords: Mozambique. Photography. Photographic Albums.