Based on observation during a participative video workshop administrated by the author in a ‘quilombola’ community in north-eastern Brazil, the article elaborates on the role of images in the process of ‘designation’ and formation of identities. In this process, reproducible images assume a role that  makes them not only represent, but also prescribe certain concepts of ‘Culture’, forming successively a cluster of ‘reference images’ which become intrinsically associated with the identity groups in question.