SEBASTIÃO SALGADO AND HIS HUMANIST LENS, A LIFE DEDICATED TO PHOTOGRAPHY

Born in Aimorés, Brazil, Sebastião was a keen observer of the world and a staunch advocate for human dignity and the environment. Although his academic background was in economics—he graduated from the University of São Paulo and earned a doctorate in Paris—his path changed in the early 1970s when he discovered photography during his travels in Africa as part of his work with the International Coffee Organization. From that point on, he dedicated his life to capturing the deepest realities through his camera.

From his early days as a photojournalist with agencies such as Sygma, Gamma, and later Magnum, Salgado developed a rigorous documentary approach characterized by the presentation of his work in series rather than isolated images. This method allowed him to address complex themes such as poverty, migration, labor, and environmental degradation. Among his most acclaimed projects are Sahel: L'homme en détresse (1986), Other Americas (1986), An Uncertain Grace (1990), and Workers (1993), the latter a global study on the decline of manual labor.

Alongside his wife and collaborator, Lélia Wanick Salgado, he created a body of work rich in humanistic sensitivity. In addition to supporting him in all his projects, Lélia co-founded Instituto Terra, a reforestation organization in their native region. Since its inception, the institute has contributed to the restoration of the Doce River Valley ecosystem by planting over three million trees.

In 2010, while working on his ambitious Genesis project—focused on capturing untouched landscapes and cultures—he contracted a rare form of malaria in Indonesia. Fifteen years later, complications from the disease led to severe leukemia, which ultimately caused his death at age 81.

Throughout his life, Salgado received numerous accolades, but his greatest legacy remains a body of work that invites us to view the world through compassion, justice, and environmental awareness. His images avoid easy impact: they build an ethical narrative that confronts without exploiting, that denounces without stripping his subjects of their humanity.

 *Cover image: Sebastião Salgado. Day of the Dead in San Vicent Nautec, Ecuador, 1982. Gift of the photographer to the W. Eugene Smith Legacy Collection (International Center of Photography).