In loving memory of Sebastião Salgado
Sebastião Salgado - In memory of the great natural philosopher with a camera, idealism, and a message
Sebastião Salgado died, May 23, 2025 (DEUTSCH)
Paris. Sebastião Salgado (1944 in Brazil to May 23, 2025 in Paris) was a natural philosopher with a camera, idealism, and a message. As announced by the French Academy of Fine Arts in Paris, the renowned photographer Sebastião Salgado passed away yesterday after a serious illness at the age of 81. We remember the haunting photographs from the early 1990s: In 1991, Sebastião Salgado walked with the special fire brigade from Calgary, Canada, through the burning oil fields of the Emirate of Kuwait, documenting the full extent of the destruction and the individual's ability to stop the inferno. He waits with the fire chief through the blackened earth, up to his ankles. The viewer of this photograph - which is exhibited at the Stephen Hoffman Gallery (see below) - feels the heat of the burning oil fountain shooting high into the air. Feeling the heat and the danger before his eyes, the photographer documented this scene to show the world. He followed the firefighter. One will stop the blaze, the other will document what a single individual can show: that it is never too late. Targeted explosions seal the boreholes, those fire-breathing wounds in the earth. The knowledge and courage of a few courageous firefighters end the disaster.
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| Shop window of the Stephen Hoffman Gallery in Munich with the original photograph by Sebastião Salgado "Burning Oil Fields in the Emirate of Kuwait, 1991", Photo: Helga Wess (Pressearchiv ) |
At the Stephen Hoffman Gallery in Munich, we saw exhibitions of original photographs by Brazilian documentary photographer Sebastião Salgado
In haunting black-and-white images, Salgado documented natural phenomena and images of people that show our world as it is rarely seen. A photograph represents everything Sebastião Salgado wants to show.
In lengthy photo projects, the documentary photographer not only highlights the world's wounds, as in his Africa project. No, he also wants to show what remains undamaged. In his Genesis project, he devoted nine years to the last natural phenomena that have largely been spared from human influence.
In his Genesis book, he speaks of 46 percent of nature remaining undamaged. Salgado traveled around the globe. He wants to draw attention to what is not yet lost
Salgado depicted melting icebergs in the ocean, and humans and animals as individual creatures in nature—like the right whale—and as collective intelligence—like the migrating penguins.
The beauty of the creature and the power of its existence are evident in a whale's fin protruding from the water. Photographed while the animal floats vertically in the water. The remaining water flows down from the gleaming fluke like a waterfall.
The perfection of Salgado's photography ranges from the subject selection and depth of field to the fine grain in the gelatin silver print. An infinite number of gray and black tones seem possible.
The self-taught photographer with the Leica became world famous almost 50 years ago
The self-taught photographer Salgado, who only discovered photography at the age of 30 and more or less by chance, has achieved a photographic masterpiece over the past 50 years. Through his targeted and lengthy photo projects, this exceptional photographer has opened up unique perspectives for us.
He shows, in quiet and monumental grandeur, what is lost if humanity doesn't rethink its approach.
And he shows, through his own actions, that an individual can make a difference. We're thinking here of the rainforest project in which Salgado reforested a large area in Brazil, thus saving it from desertification. In doing so, he demonstrably changed the climate in the region. Incidentally, Salgado subsequently donated the reforested area to the Brazilian government as a nature reserve.
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| Poster for the "Genesis" exhibition - 2013 - at the Stephen Hoffman Gallery in Munich |
"The Salt of the Earth." A Journey with Sebastião Salgado
The film "The Salt of the Earth." A Journey with Sebastião Salgado, which Wim Wenders shot together with the photographer's son, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, and in which Sebastião Salgado frequently speaks, remains memorable thanks to its captivating images. Those who have seen this film will find much of it in the exhibition.
Documentary photography that will never be forgotten.
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| AMAZONIA - Original photograph by Sebastião Salgado in the window of the Stephen Hoffman Gallery, Photo: Helga Waess |
Sebastião Salgado's last project was dedicated to the Amazon and the indigenous peoples of the rainforests: "AMAZONIA"
Original photographs from the AMAZONIA project were shown in an exhibition at the Stephen Hoffman Gallery in 2021. The book about the project was also presented at the same time.
From his travels (he returned several times over a six-year period) to the indigenous peoples of the Amazon, Salgado brought back unique aerial photographs of vast treetops, deep valleys, and winding riverbeds reflecting forested banks and even the rainforest's vapor.
In unique portraits, we see the women and men of these last indigenous peoples in their familiar and very private surroundings.
Sebastião Salgado
will be remembered as
the world's documentary and
photographer of the century
Sebastião Salgados (* 1944-2025) - Originalphotographien
can be seen regularly in Munich at the GALERIE STEPHEN HOFFMAN - Fine Art Photography (at Prannerstr. 5 - back of Hotel Bayerischer Hof, 80333 Munich). Homepage: galeriehoffman.com