Sebastião Salgado: Capturing the Essence of Humanity and Nature in GENESIS

Sebastião Salgado, born on February 8, 1944, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, is a photographer whose work transcends the medium of photography itself. Through his powerful and moving images, Salgado has established himself as one of the most important photographers of our time. His work delves into the human experience and the planet’s fragile ecosystems with an unparalleled depth and emotional force. What makes Salgado’s photography so distinctive is his use of black-and-white imagery to capture the essence of his subjects, often within the context of profound social, environmental, or economic conditions.

Salgado’s magnum opus, “GENESIS,” a collection of black-and-white photographs, stands as one of his most significant contributions to photography. 

Early Life and Beginnings as a Photographer
Sebastião Salgado’s journey into photography was not a straightforward one. He was originally trained as an economist and, after completing his studies in Brazil, went on to earn a PhD in Economics from the University of Paris. In the early 1970s, Salgado worked as an economist for the International Coffee Organization, travelling frequently to Africa and Latin America to conduct economic research. It was during these trips that he first picked up a camera. His wife, Lélia Wanick Salgado, who has played an essential role in his work, had purchased a camera for him to use while travelling.

What began as a tool for documenting his travels quickly became a passion. Salgado found himself more interested in the people he was photographing than the economic data he was collecting. In the faces of the workers, farmers, and ordinary citizens, he saw stories that were waiting to be told—stories of hardship, resilience, and hope. By 1973, Salgado made the life-altering decision to abandon his career in economics and dedicate himself entirely to photography.

At the beginning of his photographic career, Salgado worked for well-known agencies and, eventually, Magnum Photos. His early work focused primarily on social and humanitarian issues, particularly in Latin America and Africa. The images he captured during this time were marked by a deep empathy for his subjects, often depicting the lives of workers, migrants, and refugees in difficult circumstances. Salgado’s commitment to revealing the lives of the dispossessed would remain a central theme in his photography for decades to come.