In 1951, the magazine O Cruzeiro published a report on a ritual initiation to the Candomblé, in Bahia, with the following title: "The Brides of the Bloodthirsty Gods", with 42 photographs by José Medeiros. Six years later, the same publisher published a book called "Candomblé", with 22 other unpublished photographs. The new form of publication put the same images in another format and another imaging value. We intend in this communication to discuss the displacement of social meanings between sensationalism and ethnographic documentation. From a case study, we intend to discuss the formats of presentation of ethnographic material in the mass media and with consequences with the invasion of a lega look "voyerista" and many times prejudiced, induced by the media in relation to traditional ceremonies and rituals of local cultures not globalized.