Gallery
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.
There are also some images of the town’s inhabitants: a farm owner, a bookkeeper, a shop owner, a priest and a teacher.
Fisher includes a photo of SJVRP’s local library, with books, posters and other material produced by USIS on display.
Although there are brief descriptions on the reverse of the photos, we do not have a written report attached to this series, so the photos are undated. Interestingly, different from the other series, Fisher refers to the films being screened as USIS films, instead of USIE films. This terminology suggests that the series was produced in 1952.
Local USIS offices gained more autonomy under the coordination of the US International Information Administration (IIA), created in 1952. This would explain why the local information office (USIS) is named instead of the central USIE or the IIA.
These images were kindly made available by Alan Fisher Archive.