About – Propaganda Spectacle

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.

Some of these images are being shown to the public for the first time.

They document the itinerant screenings of US propaganda newsreels, educational films and cartoons using US Information Service (USIS) mobile units to transport cinematographers to schools, factories, and remote villages in Brazil.

Fisher’s photos capture public reactions to these screenings and offer an aesthetically ambitious insight into the reception of these propaganda-spectacles.

They also reveal the role of Brazilian local authorities and institutions in the execution of these campaigns in the early 1950s.

This website also makes available to the public photos taken by Fisher earlier on – during WW2 – documenting the collaboration between the Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs (OCIAA) and the Brazilian government as part of the US Good Neighbor Policies.

About Fisher’s photos

In contrast to commonly held notions that reduce propaganda to lies and fabrication, Fisher’s photos portray granular information campaigns designed to entertain, “educate” and subtly manage people’s perception of domestic and geopolitical affairs.

The images in this website were kindly made available by Alan Fisher Archive, a private collection administered by Fisher’s heirs, and by the School of Social Sciences – FGV CPDOC, Brazil (Gustavo Capanema collection).

They are the result of an international collaboration between King’s College London, Alan Fisher Archive and the School of Social Sciences FGV CPDOC, funded by KCL-AHRC Impact Acceleration Account.

Photographic 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”.

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.

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.

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.

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].