If you have never heard of this legendary photographer, you probably have come across his work. Working mostly in Black and White, Sebastião has captured and documented some of the world’s most moving human and physical landscapes.
I first came across his work when studying the First Gulf War in Iraq. It was a tumultuous time in Middle Eastern history, and a retreating Iraqi army was ordered by dictator Saddam Hussein to light the Kuwaiti oil wells. The environmental consequences were devastating. Sebastião captured the harrowing scenes with extreme effect. But what led him here?
“You do photography, not just for a nice shot but because its important inside our society. Photographers must be a mirror of society. ”
He started life as an economist in Brazil before coming to France to pursue a PhD in Economics. This wasn’t by accident or design; as an activist, he participated in protests against the Brazilian government, which led to him having to seek asylum in France. During his exile as an employee of the World Bank, he travelled extensively to Africa.
His wife Lélia Deluiz Wanick was the genesis of his photography. After purchasing a camera in the early 1970s for her architecture studies, he found himself consumed by it. By his admission, he attributes all his photographic work to his wife; ultimately, they shared the same ethical beliefs and political persuasions. His photographic work would be a representation of his life. We might see the product of work, but what we don’t understand is the hours and weeks gone into getting permission to access certain places, and then go on to organise and complete shoots there.
He started photography in 1973 and go on to visit 130 countries. His work covering migration, workers, Africa are themes which he has covered over a long period. Being an asylum seeker himself and having strong opinions and political inclinations, it made sense for him to pursue his passion for photography exploring the human condition. For him, it was a way of life, what you feel and express.
Darwin is his inspiration. His book: Genesis was conceived from reading a book about the HMS Beagle and Darwin’s journey to the Galapagos. A fervent believer in the theory of evolution he wanted retrace Darwin’s footsteps. He is fascinated by the evolution of the Iguanas in particular. His picture of the Iganuana ‘hand’ is a representation of the ancestry of the human side.
Sebastião was raised on a cattle farm in Aimorés in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. With over 60% of the land covered in tropical rainforest, he had plenty of space to explore and walk. When he inherited the family home, he took to rehabilitate the land and create a National reserve. Today 2.5 million trees have been planted. Sebastião attributes his work to two main things: walking and patience. His book on Africa, for example, took over 2.5 years to construct. He believes that to do photography; you have to be motivated and committed to it internally and then have the patience to capture it all. He always works on one theme and then replicates the process in different countries.
Sebastião & Lélia Salgado
It is incredible to see his work on capturing King Boabs in Madagascar. This wasn’t an easy project; large parts of Madagascar are not connected; there are no roads or paths in places. So with some help, he was able to get himself strapped to the back of a mole plane, and old American aircraft, flying at a max speed of 80mph. He shot all his work working on Pentax Medium Format with a 300mm telelens, which is in itself a herculean effort.
Usually, for trips of up to 3 months, he carried his Medium Format Pentax with about 600 rolls of film (that’s 30kgs!). Crossing airports via Xray machines in airports resulted in him losing the grain of the film, so that’s why he started to work with digital. Canon loaned him the Canon EOS Mk2. While this has allowed him to travel much lighter today, he still struggles with a computer! His assistants make the contact sheets for him till today. For final selection 4x5 negative is produced - the only difference he finds is that the grain (Tri-X grain) is lost that you can only find on a film format. So to compensate that is added on before production so give consistency across all his work past and present.
His advice to all his students who have shown merit is to stop photography and go back to studying sociology, anthropology, history, geopolitics so that they can understand society. For him and Lélia photographers must know how we behave on the planet.
“‘It is a privilege to be a photographer to be at the right place at the right time.‘”