Sebastião Salgado (Brazilian: 1944 - 2025) was a titan of documentary photography, whose monumental body of work captures the raw essence of human struggle, resilience, and the profound interconnectedness of life on Earth. Trained as an economist, Salgado’s transition to photography in the early 1970s was catalyzed by a deep-seated commitment to social and environmental narratives. His lens, both poetic and unflinching, reveals the beauty and hardship of existence, from the dispossessed to the pristine.
Salgado’s seminal projects—Workers (1993), Migrations (2000), and Genesis (2013)—are visual symphonies that traverse continents, cultures, and conditions. Workers immortalize the laboring backbone of industrial societies, from miners to shipbreakers, in stark black-and-white compositions that elevate toil to the sublime. Migrations documents the global movement of people displaced by war, famine, and economic upheaval, rendering their stories with dignity and empathy. Genesis, a love letter to the planet, showcases untouched landscapes and indigenous communities, a call to preserve what remains of our world’s primordial splendor.
Sebastião Salgado’s work has been a testament to the power of art to bear witness and inspire change.
His method is immersive, often spending years embedded with his subjects, from the Sahel’s famine-stricken regions to the Amazon’s uncharted tribes. Salgado’s images, characterized by their luminous tonality and meticulous framing, transcend mere documentation; they are meditations on humanity’s place within the natural order. His work has been exhibited globally, from the Musée de l’Elysée to the International Center of Photography, and is held in prestigious collections worldwide. A recipient of countless honors, including the Hasselblad Award and the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, Salgado’s legacy extends beyond photography. With his wife, Lélia Wanick Salgado, he founded Instituto Terra, a reforestation initiative that has revitalized degraded ecosystems in Brazil’s Minas Gerais. Through his lens and his activism, Salgado challenged us to see, to feel, and to act.
GALLERY M is proud to represent select works of Sebastião Salgado's photography. Contact a consultant at 1.877.331.8401 or online for specific details including availability and pricing.
