From white to black, from elite to the popular: visual culture, photography and soccer in the early 20th century

Abstract What kind of information can the portraits of the Andarahy, Carioca, and Mangueira clubs offer about the visual culture of Rio de Janeiro in the early 20th century and the transition from amateur to professional soccer? In contrast to images from the aristocratic team of the Fluminense Soccer Club, the portraits of the black players of these popular clubs reveal disputes for visibility in the sports field and in the urban space since the end of the 1910s. They also reveal the role of the photographic market in the co-production of signs capable of composing a new visuality for the black population. To that extent, the socio-cultural transformations of that period were more significant than is usually recognized by representing the protagonism of the black population in the negotiations around social visibility in the country’s capital.