The Steam Locomotive

The cigar smoke provides the visual association behind this photograph’s title. The steam locomotive, known in Brazil by the popular name Maria Fumaça, becomes a visual reference conceived by the photographer. A resemblance transforms a detail in the scene into an image of something else. This association has no historical connection to Nego Fugido or the railroad. It stems from the freedom to name what one sees and recognize a familiar form in it.

The expression Maria Fumaça belongs to Brazil’s popular vocabulary. It turns a machine into a recognizable figure associated with old steam locomotives and the imagery of rail travel. Its sound and familiarity have allowed it to move beyond technical terminology and take on a life of its own in everyday speech.

Smoke has one defining quality that makes this association possible: its shape is constantly changing. It billows, dissipates, and shifts in appearance, taking on an unstable form. The locomotive, in turn, evokes a world of motion, noise, and travel. Bringing these two images together does not require them to be literal equivalents. The association rests on the decision to recognize a resemblance and make it the basis of a title.

In Nego Fugido, a popular cultural tradition from Acupe, a district of Santo Amaro, Bahia, the characters’ costumes and makeup are part of a tradition passed down through generations. The photograph captures a particular moment in the performance and adds the photographer’s own interpretation. The railroad reference neither explains the tradition nor attributes to the community an association that is not its own.

The title changes the way we look at the photograph. The smoke is no longer seen solely as part of the scene; it also evokes another cultural image. This association does not erase the origin of the element being photographed. It adds another way of reading the image, one that stems from the photographer’s own choices.

The Steam Locomotive connects the photograph to the cultural references brought by the viewer. The image retains the specificity of the scene, while the title introduces an external reference that broadens its interpretation. The resemblance between smoke and locomotive is not intended to explain the character. It turns a visual likeness into an authorial construction while keeping the distinction clear between the tradition being portrayed and the photographer’s interpretation.