A fotografia numa era de política de massas latinoamericana: as revistas S.Paulo (Brasil, 1936) e Rotofoto (México, 1938)

• Main Author: Carlos Alberto Sampaio Barbosa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Institut Pluridisciplinaire pour les Etudes sur l'Amérique Latine 2015-12-01
• Series: L'Ordinaire des Amériques
• Subjects: photography; magazines; visual culture; Mexico; Brazil
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/orda/2238

The aim of this article is to compare two illustrated magazines that had a short life in the 1930s in their respective countries: S.Paulo (Brazil 1935/1936), and, as a counterpoint, Rotofoto (Mexico 1938). I seek to examine, in particular, how common themes between the two countries were constituted, contributing to the construction of a Latin American political imaginary. From the hypothesis that -despite the difficult contacts between Mexico and Brazil due to language differences, distance, and lack of exchanges between their intellectuals- there were exchanges of political and cultural policies, mainly among social networks of artists and intellectuals. The comparison between the two magazines is included in this broader reflection. Both magazines present privileged platforms for a comparative study of the two countries and the visual culture established in the two societies. My goal is to show how these two cultural magazines have widely used photography as the core elements of their graphic design, while transmitting in their pages the political situation in both countries.