I'd agree with Eric's comments re the quality of the prints. I believe Salgado uses a French Printer but I don't know his name. With regard to Salgado's work I am somewhat dubious of his principles, let me explain why. When he first came to prominence with his gold mine pictures I thought they were wonderful examples of documentary photography. However, in the next few years I saw two TV documentaries about Salgado which left me feeling uneasy about his approach. In the interviews Salgado seemed to be only interested in making money from his documentary work and seemed to be quite cynical about his subjects. Please don't think I'm criticising someone for making a profit from what he does, I'm a freeleance photographer and know that money has to be earned in order to pay the bills etc. I am struggling to find the best words to describe the feelings I had when watching the TV films other than to say there was something disturbing in Salgado's attitude.
I wrestled with these feelings for several years as he continued to produce some stunning work and began to think that I was unfair and totally wrong in my original thoughts. At this point and in the space of three years I got to work with two very high profile Magnum photographers independant of each other both asked me, totally out of the blue, what I thought of Salgado. I told tham what I have said here and they both agreed with me and were not very complimentary about the man. In fact one resigned from Magnum because of his attitude although that can be discounted as the egos run high when there is a bunch of such talent together in one organisation.
I do still enjoy some of his work and I am always very excited about the prints when I see a show and wonder if it is the actual print that I'm enjoying more than the image. I sometimes feel guilty when I express these feelings for they are simply based on seeing two films where the man was interviewed although the two Magnum photographers who seemed to confirm my views are very experienced and highly respected men.
