Photos in the city, urban imaginaries: an experience with family albums in Porto Alegre Imaginada

Abstract

This article reflects upon the process of research conducted in a study with family albums of black citizens from Porto Alegre. In the context of the research Porto Alegre Imaginada (Imagined Porto Alegre), we interviewed and photographed people that defined themselves as black, while they browsed their albums. Hearing their accounts, we sought to give visibility to a trajectory of citizens and a city that, most of the times, is unknown in official history as well as in traditional media spaces. In this text we want to contribute to the discussion about the use of photos in social research and its implications in the process of thinking identities and racial aspects of the metropolis.