About the Project
Our aim is to provide public access to unexplored documents of considerable historical and cultural relevance: photos taken by US photographer Allan Fisher (1913-1988) in Brazil in the 1940s and 50s.
We want to inform researchers and the public about transnational propaganda campaigns targeting Brazil during the Cold War and to foster new debates about the uses of propaganda.
Read moreAlan Fisher (1913-1988)
Allan Fisher (1913-1988) started his career in photojournalism in 1934, first working for The New York World Telegram and subsequently for the newspaper PM. In 1942, he was invited by Alexander Murphy, a former editor of PM, to work for the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (OCIAA) documenting the collaboration between Brazil and the United States in Good Neighbourhood Policy initiatives. His main role was to produce content about Brazil for the US press and public
The US’s newest ally in South America, Brazil, had declared war on the Axis powers in August 1942. While in Brazil, Fisher took photographs of various contexts and subjects, not only of the war effort, but also of industry, notable figures, and politicians (Schmidt and Fisher, 1989).
In 1943, Fisher spent three months in Chile, reporting on the government’s decision to cut ties with Axis powers and later travelled across Latin America covering the visit of US Vice President Henry A. Wallace.
He also contributed to Em Guarda / En Guardia, a magazine produced by the OCIAA to disseminate pro-US war propaganda in Latin America (De Souza, 2012).
Read morePhotographic Series
USIE Motion Pictures in Alvinopolis, Brazil
The visual report entitled “USIE Motion Pictures in Alvinopolis, Brazil” was submitted to the State Department on 15 August 1950. It was included in a memorandum by Alan Fisher with the subject: “My visit to Farmer’s Week in Alvinopolis, Minas Gerais, July 28-30, 1950”.
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Rural Brazil sees USIS Films
The photos in this series were taken in the Municipality of São José do Vale do Rio Preto (SJVRP), in the State of Rio de Janeiro, and include images of rural workers in Córrego Sujo, a village 15 miles away from downtown SJVRP.
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Brazilian Factory Workers See USIE Films
These images were taken between January and September 1950 in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo as samples of the film screenings organised by Brazil’s Industrial Social Service (SESI) using USIS films.
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USIE Film Showings in Rio de Janeiro Public Schools
The report makes it clear that public schools in Rio de Janeiro were part of a well-organised programme of screenings of USIE films in overt collaboration with the Department of Public Education, which was like the cooperation with SESI, but targeting working class children.
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Other Images
These images were taken by Alan Fisher in 1945 and are currently held at FGV CPDOC, Brazil (Gustavo Capanema collection). Fisher travelled to the Amazon to document the collaboration between the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs and the Brazilian government in public health initiatives through the Serviço Especial de Saúde Pública (SESP) [Public Health Special Service].
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