Sabastiao Salgado
Genesis
Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego
(through September 30th)
article by Cathy Breslaw
www.cathybreslaw.com
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| Sebastiao Salgado South Sandwich Islands 2009 Chinstrap Penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica) on an iceberg located between Zavodovski and Visokoi islands |
Brazilian photographer
Sabastiao Salgado’s work sits in a space between art, documentary and photo-journalism. His first career and study for a PhD in
Economics was followed by the light evoked from childhood memories of riding
horses across land on his parent’s farm in the rainforests of Brazil. It is
there that the inspiration for his photography practice was generated. His 200 plus
collection of black and white medium to large format photographs exhibited at
the Museum of Photographic Arts focus on nature and the environment . His
images were shot over several years and on many locations around the globe. From the Brazilian rainforests to the
Siberian arctic northern regions on earth, Salgado tracks nomadic tribes, sea
and land animals as they live and migrate, to sea and landscapes in their
pristine beauty. His aim for Genesis was
to investigate air, water and fire – the elements of earth’s beginnings and to
bring to our awareness it’s stark and unblemished mark on our humanity.
Sometimes shot from hot air balloons so as to not disturb wildlife, Salgado
captured hundreds of penguins and reindeer as they migrated, communities of
seals quietly lying on rocks, whales poking out of the sea, endangered families
of birds flying overhead, and gorillas, elephants and hippos as they performed
their daily routines. Salgado traveled to over 100 countries to photograph
raw, real events. In doing so, his
images are poetic and beautifully composed, leaving the viewer to feel as if we are in on a
secret, capturing people, places and animals in private and revealing moments
in time. In the northern arctic regions of Russia, we catch a glimpse of the
nomadic Nenets tribe as they appear frozen in snow in their hand-hewn fur
jackets and hats traveling across ice with reindeer to the Zo’e tribe in the
Brazilian rainforest. Salgado’s images
are a direct documentation of indigenous communities that remain untouched, and
serve as examples of our earliest forms of human settlements. Salgado’s classic
and realistic photographs sometimes encompass big views of landscapes and
seascapes to more intimate images of animals
and people. The result is a rediscovery
of our planet and the awareness of its’ preciousness - and the responsibility
that we as humans have as guardians of our earth.
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| Sabastiao Salgado Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus Cristatus) Galapagos.Ecuador.2004 |
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| Southern Right Whales(Eubalaena australis) drawn to the Valdes Peninsula because of the shelter provided by its two gulfs, The Golfo San Jose and the Golfo Nuevo, whales often navigate with their tails upright in the water. Valdes Peninsula, Argentina 2004 |
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| Sebastiao Salgado Teureum, Sikeirei and leader of the Mentawai Clan This shaman is preparing a filter for sago, with the leaves of this sago tree. Siberut Island, West Sumatra, Indonesia 2008 |
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| Sebastiao Salgado Women in the Zo'e village of Towari Ypy use the "urucum"(Bixa Orellana) red fruit to color their bodies. Para State. Brazil. 2009 |
