witnessed the drought in the Sahel, in Western
Africa. In 1986, he began a monumental project
to photograph the activities of manual labor in
places as varied around the globe as Brazil, Cuba,
France, India, Bangladesh, the Soviet Union, and
the United States. The fruit of this work came forth
from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s in a series of
major exhibits and publications.
His key series include: Sahel: L’Homme en
De ́tresse(1986),Other Americas(1986),An Uncer-
tain Grace(1990),Workers: An Archaeology of the
Industrial Age(1993), andThe Children: Refugees
and Migrantsand its companion volume,Migra-
tions (2000).An Uncertain Grace is a powerful
anthology of the force of Salgado’s images. Here
there are the mesmerizing photographs of laborers
in the mammoth gold mines of Serra Pelada, Bra-
zil, wending their muddied way up and down this
vast cavity in the earth like legions of humanoid
ants. There are the wrenching scenes of skeletal
poverty in the Sahel. There is the resolute trekking
of bowler-hatted Indian women and their children
across mountain-bordered meadows.
The Children chronicles the plight of refugee
children from across the world, in portraits that
show the ravages inflicted by ethnic cleansing, po-
litical instability, war, and extreme poverty. An
exhibition sponsored by the United Nations tra-
veled around the United States.
Salgado has been the recipient of numerous awards
from around the world. Nonetheless, critics have
maintained that he overdramatizes the lives of the
unfortunate. He has responded thus to this criticism:
Sometimes we from the South hemisphere wonder why
you in the North think you have the monopoly of beauty,
of dignity, of riches. Ethiopia is a country in crisis, where
the people are suffering so acutely, yet Ethiopians are
probably among the most beautiful, most noble people
in the world. There is really no point in going there to
deny this reality.... I believe this: that the people of the
world are not those who lack basic material good. At any
given moment in their history, the presently rich nations
have been poor and vice versa.... There is no monopoly
either of wealth or beauty in the world. I believe we must
not destroy recognition of human dignity and beauty....
After all we [of the South] see ourselves as the agents of
our own lives, not simply at the ‘‘victims’’ of external
agencies.
In terms of equipment, Salgado works with rela-
tively sparse resources. He photographs mostly
outdoors and only in black and white. He does
not use flash or tripods. He carries three cameras
with 28-, 35-, and 60-millimeter lenses, occasionally
using a zoom lens. He takes much time to get to
know his subjects and will not photograph them in
any way that is demeaning, having a highly devel-
oped sense for respecting and conveying the dignity
of his subjects.
In 1992 in Mexico City, Salgado’s work was exhib-
ited with that of the Peruvian master, Martı ́nChambi;
and Salgado was presented as one of the two greatest
Latin American photographers. For someone who
had only begun photographing less than two decades
before and who promises to offer so much more,
Sebastia ̃o Salgado has achieved an exceptional posi-
tion in modern international photography.
EdwardA. Riedinger
Seealso:Cartier-Bresson, Henri; Chambi, Martı ́n;
Documentary Photography; Life Magazine; Look;
Magnum Photos; Photography in South America;
Representation and Gender; Social Representation;
‘‘The Decisive Moment’’; Worker PhotographyBiography
Sebastia ̃o Ribeiro Salgado, Jr, born in Aimore ́s, Minas Ger-
ais, Brazil, 8 February 1944. Received undergraduate
degree in economics, Federal University of Espı ́rito
Santo, Vito ́ria; married Le ́lia Denuz Wanick, Vito ́ria,- Received masters in economics from University of
Sa ̃o Paulo, with additional study at Vanderbilt Univer-
sity, 1968. Worked for Brazilian Ministry of Finance,
1968–1969. Studied economics in Paris, doing course
work for doctorate at University of Paris, 1969–1971.
Worked for International Coffee Organization, London,
1971–1973. Photoreporter for drought in Sahel, 1973.
Photographer for Sygma, Paris; first son born, 1974;
with Gamma agency, 1975–1979; joined Magnum
Photos, second son born, 1979. Received grant from
French Ministry of Culture to support his photographic
work, 1982, and worked with Doctors without Borders in
Sahel, 1984–1985. Received Kodak/City of Paris award
for first photographic book (Autres Ame ́riques), 1984;
Oskar Barnack Prize, 1985; New York International
Center of Photography Photojournalist of the Year
Award, 1986, 1988; Photographer of the Year, American
Society of Magazine Photographers, Olivier Rebbot
Award of New York Overseas Press Club, 1987; King
of Spain Award, 1988; Hasselblad Award, 1989; Grande
Prix de la Ville de Paris, 1991; Honorary Member of
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 1992; Publica-
tion Award (forWorkers) of International Center of
Photography, 1994. Founded own agency, Amazonas
Images, in Paris, for distribution of his work, managed
by wife, 1994.
Selected Individual Exhibitions
1986 Sahel, Man in Distress; Palais de Tokyo, Paris, Arles
and Lausanne, France; Sa ̃o Paulo, and Beijing
1986 Other Americas; Museo de Arte Contemporaneo;
Madrid, and traveling to Paris, Lausanne, Oulou, Fin-
land, Rotterdam, Rio de Janeiro, and ShanghaiSALGADO, SEBASTIA ̃O