Sebastião Salgado, an economist by education, began to photograph professionally in the early 1970s. His international trips as an economist in his early career inspired him to take up photography. He is famous for the directness of his photography of individuals and groups who are in dire economic circumstances. He is unwilling to present his portraits individually and instead will only display them in collections. I thought that this was an interesting principle. As I became more familiar with his work, I realized that he uses collections to powerfully connect his photos across broad overarching themes, such as conservation, migration, and Indigenous culture. His style of portrait is well-known for not isolating the subject(s) from their surrounding circumstances, but instead captures the dynamic between the subject(s) and their environment. Again, as I viewed more of his work, I began to understand how that would present not only individuals, but their livelihoods as well. It is difficult to capture people in poverty without invoking pity and/or painting yourself as a savior. However, he is known for techniques that work to avoid those reactions and instead emphasize reality and empowerment. Lastly, he photographs only in black and white. I haven’t been able to find the reason for this, but it gives both commonality and depth to his photos because textures can only be depicted in shades between black and white. He also only uses natural lighting, stating that he does not know how to use artificial lighting.
The artifact I would like to focus on is his exhibition, Amazônia, that depicts 12 different Indigenous peoples (cultures) of the Amazon, many of which are located in remote areas and some of which are in chosen isolation. Some of the photographs also highlight the unique landscapes, flora, and fauna of the region. Salgado traveled around the Amazon, immersing himself in Indigenous communities for weeks, capturing their day-to-day life and surroundings. The goal of the series was to show the inseparability of Indigenous peoples and the ecosystems around them. The photos are displayed with an Amazonia soundtrack of people talking, animal noises, natural soundscapes, and music. The series also includes videos of Indigenous leaders speaking out against the deforestation and degradation of the Amazon rainforest. Salgado was traveling while Bolsonaro was still heading the Brazilian government, so a lot of the commentary surrounds the lack of governmental support for the environments and peoples of the Amazon. The funds made from the exhibition largely go to Instituto Terra, a nature institute and reserve founded by Salgado and his wife that focuses on reforestation of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil and environmental education.
However, I think that it is always worth calling into question the ethics of traveling to Indigenous territories to showcase their lifestyles. The exhibition is great for giving Indigenous leaders a platform for their socioenvironmental advocacy. However, particularly for Indigenous peoples who have chosen to be isolated or even relatively isolated, I find that the ethics become blurry depending on the desires of the community. Salgado is bringing modern technology into areas that may be very unfamiliar with their functioning. He doesn’t know any of the Indigenous languages and used interpreters the entire time. All I hope is that the extent to which this project is displayed was known by all the subjects in Salgado’s photographs.
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This is such an interesting post! I have always found it fascinating how photography can capture many subtle aspects about a people group and/or culture. I wonder if Sebastião Salgado had any unique directions he would give to the subjects of photos, or if he would take a more silent role and just try to capture the moment without any manufacturing. I also wonder how one can go from economy to photography -- quite a switch!
Hi Elspeth! Thanks for your post, I really enjoyed the content! One of my views on black and white photos is that shooting black and white photos allows the viewer to get rid of the visual interference brought by color and enjoy the photos more directly. In many cases, too rich colors will weaken the power of the object itself, while black and white can give the viewer an intuitive impact.