Tags
Amazon, Amazon Rain Forest, Amazonia, Black and White photography, brazil, Genesis, Indigenous people, Photography, Sebastião Salgado
April 19th is Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples’ Day
Sebastião Salgado, apart from being a world renowned photographer, is passionate about helping to save the Amazon rain forest and its indigenous peoples.
This is his most recent statement:
Whether viewed from the sky or on the ground, Amazon has always filled me with awe. Neither words nor photographs can fully convey the sensation of being overwhelmed by the sheer power and majesty of nature. Just as unforgettable is the feeling of intimacy I experienced when spending weeks on end with different tribes. I felt privileged to be allowed to share their time and space, first patiently learning to be accepted, then quietly recording their daily lives. In this way, I could feel and convey their gentleness. Never has the survival of the indigenous people been as threatened as it is now. My wish, with all my heart, with all the passion I possess, is that in 50 years’ time all images I took will not resemble a record of a lost world. Amazon must live on – and, always at its heart, its indigenous inhabitants.
All images are the copyright of Sebastião Salgado.
1. Yara, with hair adornments made of seeds and macaw feathers. Eldest daughter of Wewito Piyãko and Auzelina. The small paint designs on her face indicate that a girl is not yet engaged. Kampa do Rio Amônea Indigenous Territory, State of Acre, 2016.
2. Alzira Yawanawá, village of Mutum. Rio Gregório Indigenous Territory, State of Acre, 2016.
3. Onãtxo and Thõwero, Winko’s daughter and granddaughter, with little children. Kampa do Rio Amônea Indigenous Territory, State of Acre, 2016.
4. Amapyranawin Awá in the village of Juriti with a pet tamarin (Saguinus niger). Indians of the Amazon commonly raise the young of animals they have hunted as if they were family members. This custom is even stronger among those of Tupi-Guarani origin, the culture that gave Portuguese the word xerimbabo, meaning “farm animal.” Awá-Guajá Indigenous Territory, State of Maranhão, 2013.
“In GENESIS, my camera allowed nature to speak to me. And it was my privilege to listen.” ―Sebastião Salgado
On a very fortuitous day in 1970, 26-year-old Sebastião Salgado held a camera for the first time. When he looked through the viewfinder, he experienced a revelation: suddenly life made sense. From that day onward―though it took years of hard work before he had the experience to earn his living as a photographer―the camera became his tool for interacting with the world. Salgado, who “always preferred the chiaroscuro palette of black-and-white images,” shot very little color in his early career before giving it up completely.
Raised on a farm in Brazil, Salgado possessed a deep love and respect for nature; he was also particularly sensitive to the ways in which human beings are affected by their often devastating socio-economic conditions. Of the myriad works Salgado has produced in his acclaimed career, three long-term projects stand out: Workers (1993), documenting the vanishing way of life of manual laborers across the world; Migrations (2000), a tribute to mass migration driven by hunger, natural disasters, environmental degradation and demographic pressure; and this new opus, GENESIS, the result of an epic eight-year expedition to rediscover the mountains, deserts and oceans, the animals and peoples that have so far escaped the imprint of modern society―the land and life of a still-pristine planet. “Some 46% of the planet is still as it was in the time of genesis,” Salgado reminds us. “We must preserve what exists.” The GENESIS project, along with the Salgados’ Instituto Terra, are dedicated to showing the beauty of our planet, reversing the damage done to it, and preserving it for the future.
Over 30 trips―traveled by foot, light aircraft, seagoing vessels, canoes, and even balloons, through extreme heat and cold and in sometimes dangerous conditions―Salgado created a collection of images showing us nature, animals, and indigenous peoples in breathtaking beauty.