Sebastiao Salgado: Seeing "The Forgotten"
Sebastiao Salgado is a photographer from Brazil. He grew up on a large farm with at least thirty families (The silent drama). Salgado is considered a social photographer because of his commitment to long-term projects including Workers from 1993, Migration from 2000, and Genesis from 2013. In all of these series, Salgado provides his social commentary on indigenous people, forgotten lands, and the unique hardships in different cultures.
Overall, I really enjoy Salgado's work. I think a large part of it has to do with his compositions, the wide depth of field, but also a description of Genesis that said it "documents the world's forgotten people and places" (The silent drama). It's a unique idea to photograph indigenous persons experiencing things like hunger and saying they are forgotten. You would think that people suffering from starvation would be helped and remembered, but Salgado shows in these series the beauty of life and the level of ignorance for large-scale problems in need of solutions. It is as if he is saying that these people and places will be forgotten, but you have the ability to remember their existence and nurture their life.
If I had to pick one specific photograph, it would be "The Brooks Range" seen above. I love how there is detail in every aspect of nature from the mountains to the creek and even the clouds. I also believe it is very satisfying how the composition balances itself out. Where there are darks, there are complementary lights. For example, the shadowy lows in between the mountains are evened out by the lighter values of the creek. There is no singular space where my eyes get stuck in a mass of one value. Everything feels moving and interesting to the eye. Finally, I really enjoy the details in the lines of the river. It feels wispy, almost like it is dancing between the mountains.
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