Witnessing Colonial Warfare in Early-20th Century Portugal: The Photographic Reportage of the Kwamato Campaign in South Angola (1907)

Abstract

In 1907, a Portuguese military expedition was sent to Angola to subdue the Kwamato. Two photographers accompanied the troops and photographed moments of rest, training, and combat. It was the first Portuguese photographic reportage of war. This article analyses a group of photographs of the Kwamato campaign as an example of photography of war. Using a methodology based on discourse analysis in journalism, this article illustrates how photography represented colonial warfare as part of a narrative of imperial dominance where modern technology was crucial, and how this representation was presented and normalised to the Portuguese mainland public in the illustrated press.