Stroomversnellingen in de Cuanza te Cambambe before 1886

José Augusto da Cunha Moraes made this photograph of the Cuanza River rapids in Cambambe, Angola. Captured through the lens of a camera, the image embodies more than just a picturesque scene; it's a statement of Portuguese colonial authority in Angola. The photograph, carefully composed with sharp lines and a clear vanishing point, presents the Angolan landscape as an ordered, tamed space, ripe for exploitation. Made during a period of increasing colonial extraction, the image becomes a tool to reinforce the idea of Angola as a territory both knowable and controllable. It is a document embedded in the language of empire. By examining the social, economic, and political contexts, we can reveal the role of images in shaping perceptions and justifying colonial projects. To learn more, delve into colonial archives, travelogues, and anthropological studies to understand the history of power dynamics visually encoded in this photograph.