A microhistorical analysis of the photograph of Hacienda de Cañasgordas: visual representation, social use, and memory

Visual studies approach images as material objects through which interpretive communities represent reality and construct scopic regimes that define ways of seeing. Photographs operate as social practices in which modes of seeing reflect the photographer’s vision, transforming images into documentary testimonies that connect subjects and objects to cultural history through symbols and conventions mobilized as social memory. This article analyzes the social use of the photograph by Pedro Antonio Riascos, ‘Casa de la Hacienda Cañasgordas, residencia del último alférez real de Cali’, to examine how visual narratives contribute to shaping the collective memory of the hacienda, a site historically associated with the early political debates and military organization that preceded Cali’s declaration of independence in 1810, and its subsequent restoration as a museum. Drawing on concepts of visual representation and ways of seeing developed by John Berger, Gisèle Freund, and Edward Goyeneche, the study examines how the photograph’s framing supports a discourse that positions the hacienda as a historically significant place. The analysis highlights how power structures, practices of cultural documentation, and the social construction of visual meaning influence the perception of Hacienda de Cañasgordas. This perception is further shaped by literary and legal references, particularly the novel El Alférez Real and Resolution 0423 of 2014, which affirm the site’s historical, aesthetic, and symbolic value.