Renowned social commentator and devotee of the natural world, legendary photographer Salgado passes away.
Legendary Photographer Sebastião Salgado Passes Away at 81
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - Renowned Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado, known for his gritty and poignant depictions of human struggle and natural beauty, passed away at the age of 81.
Salgado's photographs, often captured in black and white, showcased an unflinching portrayal of human suffering, from the Iraq War and the Rwandan genocide, to African refugee streams and inhumane working conditions in Latin America. Despite the bleak subject matter, his images possessed a haunting beauty that was all too real.
Born in the small town of Aimorés, Minas Gerais, on February 8, 1944, Salgado studied economics before working for the International Coffee Organization in London. A pivotal moment came in 1973, during a business trip to Africa, where he captured his first photographs with his wife's Leica. He eventually left his economic career to pursue photography, working for well-known agencies like Sygma, Gamma, and Magnum.
Over the years, Salgado's work moved from war-torn regions to his parent's farm in Brazil. There, he started the Instituto Terra, which aimed to reforest land depleted by intensive agriculture and convert it into a nature reserve.
In his later years, Salgado took on nature photography, creating dramatic landscape images and intensely captivating animal photographs for the series "Genesis." Elephants, lions, and seals were among the wildlife he captured, offering gifts of raw, untamed power and beauty.
His work has earned numerous accolades, including the World Press Photo Award (1985), the Grand Prix National de la Photographie (1994), and the Prince of Asturias Award (1998). He was also honored as the first photographer to receive the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in 2019.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil expressed his condolences, saying, "Salgado's outrage at the inequalities in the world and his relentless talent for portraying the reality of the oppressed serve as a wake-up call to the conscience of all humanity. Salgado did not merely photograph people but deep down, he photographed our shared humanity with his full heart and soul."
Salgado's work will continue to stand as a testament to the stark reality of the world, while also inspiring a deep appreciation for the beauty that can be found even in the darkest corners.
- In his later endeavors, Salgado expanded his photographic focus to encompass the natural world, capturing striking images for the series "Genesis," showcasing wildlife such as elephants, lions, and seals, often found in home-and-garden or environmental-science contexts.
- Prioritizing sustainable living and the health of the environment, Salgado established the Instituto Terra on his parent's farm in Brazil, a project dedicated to reforesting land depleted by intensive agriculture and transforming it into a nature reserve, aligning with the principles of sustainable living and climate-change concerns.
- As his career progressed, Salgado branched out from depicting human struggle and delved into science and the environment, capturing the raw, untamed beauty of nature with his photographic lens, thus merging the realms of science, environment, home-and-garden, and lifestyle.
