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The Praetorians
Portugal
by Rafael Baptista
Published May 2025
"The Praetorians" explores a movement that claims to defend the Portuguese nation, yet reveals unsettling undertones. It captures contemporary nationalism, where pride and rebellion intertwine to form a dark, disquieting portrait.
The images document moments of celebration and tension, symbols and gestures, that reinterpret the past for a turbulent present. The lens explores ritualised aesthetics, codes of belonging, and the exaltation of an ideal, probing the line between identity and imposition, patriotism and exclusion.
This is neither praise nor condemnation—it is a stark mirror of a growing phenomenon. To be countered, it must first be understood.
Rafael Baptista
Rafael Baptista is a 24-year-old journalist from Portugal driven by an unwavering passion for storytelling. His career has been shaped by internships and the realities of newsroom life, where challenges arise daily. Yet, through curiosity and determination, he has sought out and shared stories that resonate with a wide audience.
Specialising in politics and security, Baptista has spent over four years investigating subjects such as the rise of the far-right and the shadowy operations of foreign espionage in Portugal.
“I am not one to remain still. The world is my canvas, and I draw inspiration from trailblazers like Ryszard Kapuściński, Martha Gellhorn, and Marie Colvin. Constantly on the move, I seek out extraordinary stories—the kind that transcend time and leave an indelible mark. To me, journalism is not merely a profession; it is a calling and a legacy I aspire to build.”
I was one of millions of people who supported the struggles of people in Portuguese colonies - Angola, Mozanbique, Guinea-Bissau - against Portuguese fascism and colonialism. We welcomed the carnation revolution that finally ended the nightmare domestically and the colonial wars abroad. Many people fled Portugal during the terrible years of Salazar and Caetano, and their anti-fascist struggle and history remains virtually unknown in the U.S.. Even today, Lisbon is the only major European city that has a museum devoted to documenting that long struggle and celebrating freedom from fascism. It includes the work of pioneering photographers who documented the carnation revolution and the liberation wars. Their work showed the true people's history of Portugal, but their photodocumentary tradition is unknown here. Documenting the danger of the return of fascism, as this set of photographs does, is an important contribution and warning, Yet it's ironic and sad that the photography that documented the side of freedom is still absent from U.S. media discourse. David Bacon