Pelos olhos de quem mora: um ensaio fotográfico sobre os bairros Plataforma e São João do Cabrito

Abstract

This work is a descriptive account of the project "Through the Eyes of Those Who Live There: A Photographic Essay on the Plataforma and São João do Cabrito Neighborhoods" which analyzes how the peripheral communities of Salvador are represented by traditional media and how these narratives influence the social construction of these territories. Based on the theoretical contributions of Erving Goffman on stigmas, Stuart Hall on representation and the production of meaning, and authors such as Sousa (2000) and Salles (2004), who discuss the social role of documentary photography, the study investigates how the discourses present in news published throughout 2024 can shape perceptions and reinforce stigmas about the periphery. The research combines journalistic content analysis, interviews with residents, and the production of a documentary photographic essay based on listening and self-representation. The collected testimonies reveal memories, identities, and everyday dimensions made invisible by traditional coverage. The photographic essay, constructed based on the residents' accounts, acts as a tool for counter-representation, offering new symbolic framings of the territories. The results demonstrate that the periphery is marked by plurality, belonging, and community networks that challenge widespread stereotypes. It is concluded that communication practices committed to ethics, context, and diversity can contribute to broadening ways of seeing and understanding these spaces, strengthening more human narratives about peripheral communities.