Abstract
O tema dos ex-combatentes da Guerra Colonial volta à pauta através do projeto Despojos de Guerra, do fotojornalista português Leonel de Castro. O projeto traz ao tempo presente as cicatrizes dos ex-combatentes, bem como suas histórias de vida, através de retratos atuais e memórias individuais. As fotografias, realizadas com técnicas analógica e de colódio úmido, apresentam os ex-combatentes e as marcas dos ferimentos que interromperam suas vidas na juventude. Este artigo pretende, assim, refletir sobre a constituição das memórias da mutilação de guerra por meio da fotografia documental e como essas memórias dialogam com o tempo presente. Baseia-se numa análise qualitativa do discurso fotodocumental e das considerações do idealizador do projeto, Leonel de Castro, colhidas em uma entrevista, à luz de um referencial teórico construído a partir dos contributos de Sontag, Costa, Baeza, Barthes e Kossoy, que discutem os usos da fotografia documental, e de Biondi, sobre a representação da dor e do sofrimento no fotojornalismo. A pesquisa propõe duas categorias de análise das imagens fotográficas de Despojos de Guerra, em que as naturezas material e temporal se complementam. Conclui-se que a fotografia documental permite que memórias de fatos antigos permaneçam atuais através de sua materialização em imagens e, além disso, as escolhas dos elementos constitutivos da imagem fotográfica pelo fotógrafo são fundamentais para que determinada mensagem seja transmitida. A análise das imagens, portanto, deve considerar as relações entre tais elementos.
Veterans of the Portuguese Colonial War are back on the media agenda through the project “Despojos de Guerra” (Spoils of War), by Portuguese photojournalist Leonel de Castro. The project brings to the present time the scars of the veterans, as well as their life stories, through current portraits and individual memories. The photographs, Using a collodion process, analogic, photographs present veterans and the marks of the wounds that interrupted their lives in their youth. Thus, this study intends to reflect on the constitution of memories of war mutilation through
documentary photography and how these memories dialogue with present time. It is based on a qualitative analysis
of the photodocumentary discourse and of the discourse of the creator of the project, Leonel de Castro, collected
in an interview, in the light of a theoretical referential built from the contributions of Sontag, Costa, Baeza, Barthes
and Kossoy, who discuss the uses of documentary photography, and of Biondi, about the representation of pain and
suffering in photojournalism. The research proposes two categories of analysis of the photographic images of Despojos
de Guerra, in which material and temporal natures complement each other. Conclusions point out the ideas that
documentary photography allows memories of old facts to remain present through their materialization in images and,
furthermore, that photographer’s choices of the constitutive elements of the photographic image are fundamental for
a certain message to be transmitted. The analysis of the images, therefore, must consider the relations between such
elements.
Veterans of the Portuguese Colonial War are back on the media agenda through the project “Despojos de Guerra” (Spoils of War), by Portuguese photojournalist Leonel de Castro. The project brings to the present time the scars of the veterans, as well as their life stories, through current portraits and individual memories. The photographs, Using a collodion process, analogic, photographs present veterans and the marks of the wounds that interrupted their lives in their youth. Thus, this study intends to reflect on the constitution of memories of war mutilation through
documentary photography and how these memories dialogue with present time. It is based on a qualitative analysis
of the photodocumentary discourse and of the discourse of the creator of the project, Leonel de Castro, collected
in an interview, in the light of a theoretical referential built from the contributions of Sontag, Costa, Baeza, Barthes
and Kossoy, who discuss the uses of documentary photography, and of Biondi, about the representation of pain and
suffering in photojournalism. The research proposes two categories of analysis of the photographic images of Despojos
de Guerra, in which material and temporal natures complement each other. Conclusions point out the ideas that
documentary photography allows memories of old facts to remain present through their materialization in images and,
furthermore, that photographer’s choices of the constitutive elements of the photographic image are fundamental for
a certain message to be transmitted. The analysis of the images, therefore, must consider the relations between such
elements.
Translated title of the contribution | The war bodies: photography and memory of ex-combatants mutilated in the Colonial War |
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Original language | Portuguese |
Pages (from-to) | 211–226 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Ámbitos. Revista Internacional de Comunicación |
Issue number | 57 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 19 Jul 2022 |
Keywords
- Fotojornalismo
- Fotografia documental
- Guerra Colonial
- Leonel de Castro
- Despojos de Guerra
- Photojournalism
- Documentary photography
- Colonial War