Honoring the Legacy of Sebastião Salgado
**Renowned Photographer Sebastião Salgado Passes Away at 81**
Sebastião Salgado, the acclaimed documentary photographer whose work raised global awareness about threatened cultures, environments, and people, passed away on May 23rd, 2023, at the age of 81.
Throughout his illustrious career, Salgado combined powerful storytelling with a deep commitment to social and environmental issues, often capturing the struggles and resilience of individuals and communities in crisis. His work inspired many photographers and was the reason for the writer's career choice at the age of 17.
One of Salgado's key projects, 'Workers', began at Serra Pelada in 1986 and featured images of manual laborers from around the world. The project evolved into a touring exhibition shown in over 100 Brazilian cities and 40 countries internationally. By documenting the lives of workers, Salgado highlighted the struggles of manual laborers and the impact of industrialization on human lives, helping to raise awareness about worker rights and conditions.
Another seminal work of Salgado was 'Exodus: Humanity in Transition', also known as 'Migrations'. Spanning six years, this project documented mass migrations due to war, famine, poverty, and environmental issues across 40 countries, bringing attention to the urgent issues of displacement and migratory crises, humanizing the experiences of refugees and migrants.
'Sahel: L’Homme en Detresse' (Sahel: The End of the Road) was a project started by Salgado in 1984 in the drought-stricken Sahel region of Africa. The project covered malnutrition and famine across Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, and Sudan during a period in which a million people died. It highlighted critical humanitarian crises, such as malnutrition and famine, leading to increased support for affected regions.
Salgado's final project was 'Amazonia', published in May 2021. The project spanned six years and covers the vast Amazon forest, its rivers, trees, wildlife, and the people who make their home there.
Salgado worked exclusively in black and white, first with film and then with a digital camera. The 'Genesis' project, which began in 2004 with a trip to the Galapagos Islands and ended in 2012, resulted in a book with over 500 pages and large-scale, striking images. This project aimed to document untouched regions of the world, capturing the natural beauty and diversity of the planet, and underscoring the importance of preserving these areas for future generations.
Salgado and his wife Lélia Wanick Salgado created books, prints, and touring exhibitions of his work to ensure his message reached a wide audience. In addition, they were involved in reforesting their family's farm in Brazil, planting over 2 million trees and creating a national nature reserve. This initiative has contributed to environmental conservation and serves as a model for sustainable land management.
A panel discussion paying tribute to Salgado will take place at the Royal Geographical Society in London on August 9th, featuring veteran photojournalist Ian Berry, World Press Photo award winner Edmond Terakopian, Neil Burgess, formerly Salgado's UK agent, and Nigel Atherton, group editor of Amateur Photographer.
Salgado's legacy includes the creation of The Instituto Terre, the reforestation project he started in 1993. Born on February 8th, 1944, in a small town called Aimores in the Minas Gerais state of Brazil, Salgado worked as an economist for the International Coffee Organisation before becoming a photographer. His cause of death was leukaemia and complications from a 2010 bout of malaria contracted in Indonesia.
Salgado's work will continue to inspire future generations of photographers and raise awareness about the critical social and environmental challenges we face today.
- In a tribute to his lifelong dedication, a panel discussion featuring veteran photojournalists will be held at the Royal Geographical Society in London, discussing the influence and impact of Sebastião Salgado's work on business careers, particularly in the field of photography and social activism.
- Despite working as an economist for the International Coffee Organisation initially, Sebastião Salgado's passion for storytelling and social issues shifted his career path, demonstrating that pursuing a career in finance or business doesn't have to limit one's connection with important global social and environmental concerns.
