The Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgado was born in Aymorés (Minas Gerais) in February 1944. He is one of the most respected photojournalists in the world and belongs to the group involved with the social cause. His work is collected in ten books and several exhibitions that carry this photographer’s work to all the planet.
Before working as a photographer he studied economics and worked for several years at the International Coffee Organization. It was from 1973 when he started to do photography as a way of living.
As a general rule, Sebastiao Salgado works in his own projects which get him involved for several years. Almost all his photos are black and white and using a Leica . Nowadays, he is living in Paris with his wife, Léila Wanick Salgado, director of the company they share, Amazonas Images.
From January 17 you can discover Sebastiao Salgado’s work in Madrid thanks to the exhibition at Caixa Forum until May 4.
“Before humans populate the earth, rivers, mountains and deserts were already here, millions of animal and vegetable species modified only by the passage of time … “
Once, Mr. Salgado went back to Minas Gerais after one of his trips and he could check the disaster that deforestation was making in his homeland. From that very moment, a reflection on the impact that humans have over earth resources came into his mind and he decided to capture in his photographs the grandeur and fragility of our planet.
Genesis is composed of 245 black and white vibrant photographies from intact civilizations far away from the modern world, landscapes and animals from distant regions where nature reigns.
The photographies, with a poetic language and high formal quality, are a clear complaint about the earth destruction, Salgado himself says that the 46% of the planet stays still like the day of the genesis and that we must protect it someway or otherwise we could not live here like we do it now.
The exhibition is divided in five sections, each one represents an extensive region with several ecosystems and human collectivities. First of all, Antarctica and Confines of the South, followed by The Sanctuaries, Africa, Lands of the North and finally Amazonia and the marshland.
Furthermore, the exhibition is accompanied by some other activities than you can check here .
And if by May 4 you are not able to fit your schedule to go and enjoy this great exhibition, at least you can take a glance at the work of Salgado through this virtual visit that Caixa Forum offers vía his website here.
All images from Obra Social La Caixa .
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Watercolors by Soraya Estefana in shop and slideshow gallery. Click on pictures to go to file
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