Renowned French-Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado has died at 81. Known for his striking black-and-white images documenting human suffering and environmental beauty, Salgado leaves behind a legacy that merged art, activism, and an unwavering commitment to global social and ecological justice.
French-Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado, acclaimed for his monumental body of work depicting wildlife, landscapes, and people across the globe, died on Friday at the age of 81, the French Academy of Fine Arts announced. Salgado was a member of the Academy since 2016.
The Academy expressed its deep sorrow, describing him as “a great witness to the human condition and the state of the planet.” His large-format black-and-white photographs—ranging from scenes of conflict to the Amazon rainforest—brought him international recognition. They adorned calendars, books, and museum walls, captivating audiences with their solemn beauty.
Though some critics accused him of aestheticizing human suffering, Salgado remained true to his style and convictions. “Photography is a way of life,” he told AFP in 2022, during a visit to São Paulo for his exhibition Amazonia, the result of seven years documenting the world’s largest rainforest.
In a statement to AFP, Salgado’s family revealed that he had contracted a rare form of malaria in 2010 while in Indonesia. “Fifteen years later, complications from that illness developed into severe leukemia, which took his life,” they said.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva hailed Salgado as “one of the best photographers the world has known.” Lula, who learned of Salgado’s death during a public event with Angolan President João Lourenço, asked for a minute of silence in his memory.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) honored Salgado as an “emblematic figure of documentary photography,” calling him “a photographer of all records” and “a keen observer of humankind and nature.” RSF also noted his generosity: he donated 100 of his photographs to help fund the organization's work.
Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, paid tribute to “an immense photographer, artist, and documentarian whose talent captured the ecological and anthropological upheavals of our era.” She praised his ability to raise awareness of realities often ignored, especially those concerning the Amazon and its indigenous communities.
Salgado believed photography to be “a powerful language to try to establish better relationships between humans and nature,” as stated by the French Academy of Fine Arts. His use of black and white was intentional—both an artistic interpretation of reality and a means of preserving the dignity of his subjects.
Born in 1944 in Aimorés, in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state, Salgado originally studied economics. Active in the leftist student movements of the 1960s, he fled the Brazilian military dictatorship in 1969 with his wife, Lélia Wanick. They settled in France, where he later became a French citizen.
His haunting images of famine in countries such as Niger and Ethiopia earned him a position at the prestigious Magnum photo agency in 1979. From there, his reputation grew with projects like Workers (1993), Exodus (2000), Genesis (2013), and Amazonia (2021), each combining meticulous craftsmanship with a deep ethical concern.
Beyond photography, Salgado was a passionate environmentalist. A vocal critic of President Jair Bolsonaro’s policies toward the Amazon, he founded Instituto Terra in 1998 to restore degraded forests in Minas Gerais. The reforestation initiative, which brought together more than 3,000 landowners, has been hailed as a model of ecological regeneration.
Salgado’s work has been exhibited worldwide and honored with numerous awards, including the Hasselblad Award (1989), the Prince of Asturias Award (1998), and an Oscar nomination for The Salt of the Earth, a documentary about his life directed by Wim Wenders and his son Juliano Ribeiro Salgado.
With his passing, the world loses not only an extraordinary photographer but a fierce defender of both human dignity and the natural world. His lens, trained on the fractures and hopes of our time, leaves behind an enduring and urgent legacy.
With AFP
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