This research intends on being a contribution to the study of the visual representation of Cabo Verde from the anthropological analysis of the collection of the Photo Melo in Mindelo, São Vicente, between 1890 and 1975. It aims to contribute to an illustrated history of Portuguese colonialism and, above all, Cabo Verde, based on what is considered the country's most important photographic house, given the archipelago's historical and socio-political particularities.