Images that build community: the photographic collection of the Zamoran colony in Cuba as an expression of migrant associationalism

Abstract

The photographic collection of the Colonia Zamorana in Cuba, currently comprising 7,322 digitised images, constitutes an exceptional record of Zamoran emigration and the role of associationism as a strategy for social organisation and identity projection in the diaspora. This article offers a critical examination of the collection through a mixed-methods approach that integrates descriptive statistical analysis and visual ethnography. Its primary objective is to explore how photographic practices have contributed to the construction of community, the preservation of transnational ties with Zamora, and the generation of collective memory within the Cuban migratory context. The findings reveal significant patterns in the visual representation of social activities, generational continuities, and gender roles, while also demonstrating the role of photography as a medium of symbolic cohesion and a visual mechanism for reproducing a diasporic Zamoran identity.