Sebastião Salgado has died

[logan2z]

Sad news indeed...

Sebastião Salgado, photographer known for Amazon rainforest images, dies aged 81

Brazilian photographer’s work highlighted injustice and introduced rainforest to the world

www.theguardian.com

 

[Arthurwg]

I'll never forget the first time I saw the pictures of the Brazilian gold mine. Knocked my socks off.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

Very sad news indeed.

His legacy will remain controversial, at least in parts, but important nevertheless. And no one can doubt the sincerity and honesty of his desire to change the world — especially that of the poor and disenfrenchised — through photography.

 

[blee1996]

R.I.P. I enjoy his work and still have the "Genesis" book.

 

[nikos79]

Sad news. He was a definitely talented and very good photographer. Although I didn't like his late photos and the idea behind them (glorifying of pain through artistic form) his first book "Other Americas" remains my favorite, free from all formalistic and melodramatic excesses that defined his later photos. His influence and legacy is undeniable as Alex mentioned

 

[Alex Benjamin]

his late photos and the idea behind them (glorifying of pain through artistic form)

I do think "the idea behind them" was always for Salgado to bear witness to injustice, exploitation and the senseless destruction of the environment. The problem is trying to do so both photographically and artistically, in how one answers the question "How do I make the horrible beautiful?" — an unavoidable one for anybody who has grown up with Aristotle's study of ancient Greek tragedy. It's not as easy to answer for any photographer.

Salgado wanted to bear witness, and by that, affect change. But there were unfortunate, and probably unforeseen, consequences that arose from artistic choices made along the way.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

 

[nikos79]

Thanks for sharing this will have a look!

 

[nikos79]

I do think "the idea behind them" was always for Salgado to bear witness to injustice, exploitation and the senseless destruction of the environment. The problem is trying to do so both photographically and artistically, in how one answers the question "How do I make the horrible beautiful?" — an unavoidable one for anybody who has grown up with Aristotle's study of ancient Greek tragedy. It's not as easy to answer for any photographer.

Salgado wanted to bear witness, and by that, affect change. But there were unfortunate, and probably unforeseen, consequences that arose from artistic choices made along the way.

I don't question Salgado's intentions, many did, hence the controversy you mentioned but I want to believe he was honest and his motive has always been the one you mentioned (and not fame).

Now to the artistic problem, indeed a hard one. If I am not wrong in the ancient Greek tragedies they never showed murder or death on scene but left it implied. Still in photography is different. How do you approach pain? I have no answer for that. My instinct would tell me that although I like the intense form in my own photos in that case I would try to use a neutral form and not a very impressive one. But that is just a personal idea, I have no clue if that would work or not.

Nevertheless he was a powerful and influential photographer

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I'll never forget the first time I saw the pictures of the Brazilian gold mine. Knocked my socks off.

I had a similarexperience. He was a master of B&W. I don't now if he printed himself or had it done?

 

[Alex Benjamin]

I had a similarexperience. He was a master of B&W. I don't now if he printed himself or had it done?

This is what a web search engine had to say about this:

Sebastião Salgado generally prints his own black and white photographs at his studio in Paris, according to Nicholas Metivier Gallery and Artnet. While Salgado initially worked with other printers, including Domique Granier, who was trained by the legendary Georges Fèvre, he now typically does the printing himself.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

Old 2005 thread on the subject:

Sebastiao Salgado Technique

I know Salgado uses Leicas primarily, and I know he uses Tri-x alot. I also heard that he develops with D76. What I don't understand is how he gets his images to look like that. It looks like there is so much burning and dodging, but I am not sure. Also, he has a huge spectrum of grays, just...

www.photrio.com

 

[Daniela]

Very sad loss. Just visited a photo festival in Vincennes where he was the guest of honor and was supposed to give a talk last week. RIP.

 

[GregY]

Very sad news indeed.

His legacy will remain controversial, at least in parts, but important nevertheless. And no one can doubt the sincerity and honesty of his desire to change the world — especially that of the poor and disenfrenchised — through photography.

Alex, I beg to differ, I don't believe as you said
"His legacy will remain controversial, at least in parts, but important nevertheless." Yes there has been some controversy about some photos ....but that's an interpretation by others, and much of art causes controversy.
The man left behind a monumental body of work. Beyond the photographs, his work to reforest the Amazon is significant.
I far prefer his early film work to his later digital images, but that is merely an opinion of a viewer. I think David Kennerly nailed it:
" He was a great artist and an even better human being." The man was as significant as a social activist as a photographer and I don't believe Sebastiao Salgado or his work will be forgotten.

 

[jeffreyg]

Some years ago during a trip to Italy we were in Milan and accidentally happened on to the “Genesis” exhibition. We hit it just right and didn’t have to wait long to get in. Quite a production. I forgot who was the the printer of the large prints.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

Alex, I beg to differ, I don't believe as you said
"His legacy will remain controversial, at least in parts, but important nevertheless." Yes there is some controversy ....but that's an interpretation.
The man left behind a monumental body of work. Beyond the photographs, his work to reforest the Amazon is significant.
I far prefer his early film work to his later digital images, but that is merely an opinion of a viewer. I think David Kennerly nailed it:
" He was a great artist and an even better human being." The man was as significant as a social activist as a photographer.

Don't get me wrong. I totally agree with everything you said.

I was just stating fact regarding some of the criticism parts of his work received these past few years — a simple web search brings out a few. But I think that even those who criticised recognised the amount of good his work brought to the various causes he devoted his attention to.

And I also think it is healthy to have the conversation about how to photographically represent the poor and the disenfrenchized, and about how to represent populations in remote areas, that have barely been touched by what we call civilization. I don't see any contradiction in celebrating the man and his work, while still recognizing that the way he photographically, artistically chose to capture some of these difficult subjects do raise important questions — not that they are questionable — I leave that to Bruce Guilden —, but important questions on the nature of photographs and of photography, especially as a tool to affect change.

 

[GregY]

Don't get me wrong. I totally agree with everything you said.

I was just stating fact regarding some of the criticism parts of his work received these past few years — a simple web search brings out a few. But I think that even those who criticised recognised the amount of good his work brought to the various causes he devoted his attention to.

And I also think it is healthy to have the conversation about how to photographically represent the poor and the disenfrenchized, and about how to represent populations in remote areas, that have barely been touched by what we call civilization. I don't see any contradiction in celebrating the man and his work, while still recognizing that the way he photographically, artistically chose to capture some of these difficult subjects do raise important questions — not that they are questionable — I leave that to Bruce Guilden —, but important questions on the nature of photographs and of photography, especially as a tool to affect change.

Alex, i think it's a question of language.
To say there is controversy around some of his work is one thing....& accurate (I'm familiar with that criticism of some of his work).
To say "his legacy will remain controversial.".... is your opinion.... not fact.

 

[Alex Benjamin]

Alex, i think it's a question of language.
To say there is controversy around some of his work is one thing....& accurate (I'm familiar with that criticism of some of his work).
To say "his legacy will remain controversial.".... is your opinion.... not fact.

It's neither opinion nor fact. It's me writing in English when I should be writing in French.

I think you got what I meant.

 

[GregY]

It's neither opinion nor fact. It's me writing in English when I should be writing in French.

I think you got what I meant.

& I think you got what i meant....

 

[Alex Benjamin]

& I think you got what i meant....

Yup. We're on the same page.

 

[cliveh]

He was a great photographer and I had the privilege of meeting him at the George Rogers exhibition in about 1994.

 

[reddesert]

The book "Workers" made a huge impression on me when it appeared in the early 1990s. I had probably seen photo essays by Salgado before that, but the book made clear the immense scope of his project.

I think a few people criticized his work for aestheticizing horrible conditions, which I think may be what was voiced upthread. However, I feel that's somewhat misplaced. I mean, nobody looks at these photos and thinks "Wow, disassembling scrap ships with hand tools on the coast of Bangladesh doesn't look so bad!" A photograph doesn't have to be physically repellent to depict something that is morally/ethically alarming.

 

[GregY]

The book "Workers" made a huge impression on me when it appeared in the early 1990s. I had probably seen photo essays by Salgado before that, but the book made clear the immense scope of his project.

I think a few people criticized his work for aestheticizing horrible conditions, which I think may be what was voiced upthread. However, I feel that's somewhat misplaced. I mean, nobody looks at these photos and thinks "Wow, disassembling scrap ships with hand tools on the coast of Bangladesh doesn't look so bad!" A photograph doesn't have to be physically repellent to depict something that is morally/ethically alarming.

Red, I think it was more the critics of Amazonia.... this piece in the Guardian

‘Let Amazonians speak for themselves’: trouble in paradise for Sebastião Salgado’s Amazônia

Salgado is one of the world’s best-known documentary photographers but a growing wave of Indigenous critics are angry about the exoticised way in which they believe non-native photographers portray their communities

www.theguardian.com

 

[GregY]

In the NYTimes https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/23/arts/sebastiao-salgado-dead.html

 

[GregY]

“Why should the poor world be uglier than the rich world?” he asked in an interview with The Guardian in 2024. “The light here is the same as there. The dignity here is the same as there.”