From the Unchallenged to the Panoptic Leader

Photographic Representations of Salazar, from Notícias Ilustrado to Século Ilustrado

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the photographic images of Oliveira Salazar in Século Ilustrado, from its foundation in 1938 by Leitão de Barros, until the end of the 2nd World War. As a starting point, we took a previous essay on the construction of the leader’s image in Notícias Ilustrado (1928-1935) and a similar methodology was adopted. In the research process, all photographic images referring to the dictator Salazar until 1945 were surveyed, submitting the most important – covers, back covers and photo – to a semiotic analysis that sought to verify the adequacy of the dictator’s representations to the political circumstances of his regime. At the same time, we tried to interpret through printed photography and in graphic decisions of the two magazines Salazar’s promotion and how his propaganda will change from dictator and “unchallenged Leader” of government into a “Panoptic Leader”. The representation of Salazar in the Século Ilustrado magazine coincides with the one that takes place in the public space.