Sebastião Salgado
Brazilian · 1944–2025
Documentary photographer whose epic black-and-white images chronicle workers, migrations, and the natural world with monumental compassion.
Wikipedia ↗“I went to photograph the end of the world, and I found it.”
English
“When you photograph a tree or a forest, you must feel the tree, you must feel the forest.”
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“My wife and I decided to plant trees. We planted more than two million trees, and the forest came back. And with the forest, all the insects, birds, and fish returned, and thanks to this increase of the trees I was reborn. That was the most important moment.”
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“Photography is not objective. It is deeply subjective—my photography is consistent ideologically and ethically with the person I am.”
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“I have been a photographer for too long to be able to see the world in a detached way.”
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“I am not showing you these pictures to make you feel bad, but to give you a sense of what is happening.”
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“I saw the final stage of a long and terrible story. I was so shocked that I didn't want to take pictures anymore. I didn't want to live anymore. My soul was sick.”
English