Sebastião Salgado's Genesis: humanity and nature through the lens of a photographic giant

The celebrated Franco-Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado’s accumulation Genesis toured nan world for much than six years - a motion of its fame but besides nan effect of his unthinkable work.

Euronews Culture caught up pinch nan photographer erstwhile nan spectacular show was connected show astatine La Sucrière de Lyon, a erstwhile sweetener mill and storage that has now go an accumulation space.

Genesis is simply a photographic tribute to nan satellite comprising much than 200 achromatic and achromatic photographs. It was nan consequence of 8 years activity and immoderate 30 trips astir nan world.

Raised connected a workplace successful Brazil, Salgado had a heavy emotion and respect for nature. But he was besides peculiarly delicate to nan ways successful which quality beings are affected by their often-devastating socio-economic conditions.

He produced galore useful complete a profession spanning galore decades, specified arsenic nan semipermanent task Workers (1993) which documented nan vanishing measurement of life of manual labourers crossed nan world. Or Migrations (2000) - a tribute to wide migration driven by hunger, earthy disasters, biology degradation and demographic pressure. And past Genesis, his “love missive to nan planet”.

Rediscovering mountains, deserts and oceans

The accumulation was nan consequence of an epic eight-year expedition to rediscover mountains, deserts, oceans, and nan animals and peoples that had, up to that point, escaped nan imprint of modern society. It depicted nan onshore and life of a still-pristine planet. The project, on pinch nan Salgados’ Instituto Terra, are dedicated to showing nan beauty of our planet, reversing nan harm done to it, and preserving it for nan future.

Salgado travelled by foot, ray aircraft, seagoing vessels, canoes, and moreover balloons, done utmost power and acold and successful sometimes vulnerable conditions to create a postulation of images showing nature, animals, and indigenous peoples successful breath-taking beauty.

Using only black-and-white photography, he created a ocular ensemble pinch specified an utmost precision, that moreover nan smallest specifications look to infinitely develop.

"You know, erstwhile you look astatine an accumulation for illustration Genesis, it's really nan earth, nan animals connected to nan world and besides Man" explained Sebastião Salgado. "I'm still taking photographs of humankind. I've conscionable vanished 7 years moving successful nan Amazon pinch indigenous communities. Mankind, he's an animal of this earth, an animal for illustration immoderate other, we're successful nan animal kingdom."

Black and achromatic photography has go nan photographer's trademark. He explained why he decided not to usage colour photography.

"In 1986, I did a communicative successful Brazil which was published successful 1987 astir a golden excavation there, it was because of this golden excavation communicative that each magazines went backmost to doing achromatic and white," he said.

"This communicative was truthful strong, it was wide published by ample magazines, which accrued my visibility to specified an grade that astatine nan clip location was a large return to achromatic and achromatic photographs. I person overmuch to beryllium grateful for this return to achromatic and white, because I've stayed successful achromatic and achromatic ever since and ne'er returned to colour."

Back to nature

If nan situation is now connected everybody’s radar, for Salgado, small has changed. He believes Mankind needs to spell backmost to quality and make a belief return to nan planet. He says efforts truthful acold to prevention nan satellite person been resoundingly unsuccessful.

"We person COP 21 that took spot successful Paris 5 years agone and contempt everything that was put forward, thing was done," he says. "Do you cognize why? Because we don't induce existent people, we don't induce group who are linked to nan earth, to nan planet, it's a gathering of municipality people."

The Amazon remains his favourite territory. With his woman Leila, who is besides nan curator of 'Genesis, he took connected a colossal situation 20 years ago. He decided to replant nan trees that had vanished from nan 750 hectares of his father’s erstwhile farm. He wanted to revive nan ecosystem successful a region deed by deforestation and intensive onshore use.

"We planted 2.5 cardinal trees, moreover a small much possibly 2.7 cardinal trees and we are now preparing to works 1 cardinal much trees, successful summation to those already planted," he explains. "Because, you know, earlier nan onshore was tired, dead, destroyed and now nan onshore is rich | again. It's clip to works trees that will beryllium location for 500 years, 1,000 years, trees that request bully soil, and shadiness to grow."

Sebastião Salgado died connected Friday 23 May, 2025. This article was primitively published connected 20 February 2020.