Portuguese Troops in Line Formation During Parade

(From early 1960s.) This is another one of the scenes of the Portuguese military and police parading that characterized daily colonial life in Lourenço Marques photographed by Ricardo Rangel. Such pictures would have been printed on the front pages of daily Mozambican newspapers. Rangel stands off to the side as the pack of soldiers passes. Important to notice about the frame is that blacks, who under the Portuguese colonial system were referred to as "indigena," marched alongside whites. The photograph offers a false sense of racial integration and equality in spite of segregating Portuguese colonial laws. Rangel also manages to capture daily life continuing alongside the official parade. In the left foreground stands a young unidentified person with a thatched basket and in the background (off right) an adult walks with two children. Both groups engage differently with the parade, one watching and the other standing away, signifying different connections with colonial life, one of distraction and another of acceptance.