VisualGPS Creative Trends Culture Radiating Blackness in Latin America

Black Latin American cultural contributions are wide‑reaching: From music (Cuba’s Celia Cruz), to sport (the Dominican Republic's Marileidy Paulino), to politics (Colombia’s Francia Márquez), to the advancement of diasporic Black history/archives (Puerto Rico’s Arturo Schomburg), Afro‑descendants have and continue to make a mark on global culture. When it comes to visual culture specifically, these contributions merit a deeper look on how Black Latin Americans appear in the visuals that brands choose. A good sign is that brands seem to be aware of the impact of this influential community and align their choices as a result: 25% of Latin Americas identify themselves as people of African descent¹ and 26% of popular visuals of Latin Americans feature Black people, according to Getty Images' VisualGPS.

But accurate and authentic visuals cannot start and stop at mere proportional representation. When countries still have racial profiling codified into law,² it shouldn’t come as any surprise that 85% of Latin Americans appreciate when companies acknowledge the challenges they personally face, VisualGPS reveals. This reinforces that how people are visualized matters just as much as how many. 

Despite the share of Black people in popular visuals matching the share of self‑identified Afro‑descendants in Latin America, VisualGPS reveals that brands tend to obscure the Black experience by prioritizing racial unity: 60% of popular visuals featuring Black people show them in multiracial groups. When we look at the most popular visuals featuring Black people over a span of 10 years, this preference for a racial panoply has been consistent, and causes brands to miss out on highlighting the lives of such a large segment of the population.

VisualGPS has found that Black LGBTQIA+ Latin Americans can provide a visual north star for the decisions brands can make to ensure all types of Black people are represented. Black people appear in visuals of LGBTQIA+ people over twice as much as white people do. And when they do appear, Black LGBTQIA+ Latin Americans are seen enjoying life in ways that feel relatable and emphasize being in community with other Black people. For example, 75% of popular visuals featuring Black LGBTQIA+ Latin Americans are lifestyle‑related, compared to 52% of popular visuals of Black Latin Americans overall. This priority for showing Black people living real life is especially timely given authenticity in visuals is important for 98% of Latin Americans. 

In order to move beyond this reliance on racial unity as the preferred depiction of Blackness, brands have to get more specific in order to accurately represent the lives of Black people. Following the inspiration of the Black LGBTQIA+ community and prioritizing visuals with unambiguously Black people in community can look different depending on the context, but brands can start by showing people living everyday lives with friends and family: Eating a meal together, at work together, taking a walk through the park, even dancing! By focusing on these moments for Black Latin Americans, brands can succeed in holding a mirror to a people who have not seen themselves accurately portrayed in media. 

Sources

[1] World Bank Group   
[2] International Service for Human Rights