Legendary Brazilian photographer dies at 81

Sebastião Salgado, regarded as one of the world’s greatest documentary photographers, has died at the age of 81.

The Brazil-born photographer was known for his dramatic and unflinching black-and-white images of hardship, conflict and natural beauty, captured in 130 countries over 55 years.

His hard-hitting photos chronicled major global events such as the Rwanda genocide in 1994, burning oilfields at the end of the Gulf War in 1991, and the famine in the Sahel region of Africa in 1984.

“His lens revealed the world and its contradictions; his life, the power of transformative action,” said a statement from Instituto Terra, the environmental organisation he founded with his wife, Lélia Wanick Salgado.

Some of his most striking pictures were taken in his home country, including epic photos of thousands of desperate figures working in open-cast gold mines and striking images of the indigenous people of the Amazon.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva paid tribute, describing Salgado as “one of the best… photographers the world has given us”.

Salgado’s final major project, Amazônia, spotlighted the rainforest’s beauty and fragility.

A lifelong advocate for the Amazon’s indigenous people, Salgado documented the daily lives of a dozen of the tribes scattered throughout the rainforest – from hunting and fishing expeditions, to dances and rituals.

He spent seven years on an ambitious photographic journey, exploring the remote reaches of the Amazon rainforest and documenting its inhabitants.

The project culminated in an exhibition showcasing over 200 black-and-white images, offering a poignant glimpse into the region’s landscapes and communities.

The Amazônia exhibition was displayed at the Science Museum in London and the the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester in 2021 and 2022.

“Sometimes I ask myself, “Sebastião, was it really you that went to all these places?”‘ he said to an interviewer last year.

“Was it really me that spent years travelling to 130 different countries, who went deep inside the forests, into oil fields and mines?

“Boy, it really is me who did this. I’m probably one of the photographers who’s created the most work in the history of photography.”

Born in 1944, Salgado left a career in economics to start as a photographer in 1973.

He worked on international assignments for a variety of photography agencies before forming his own, Amazonas Images, with Lélia in 1994.

He received the Sony World Photography Awards’ Outstanding Contribution to Photography in 2024.

Other accolades included the Prince of Asturias Award and recognition as a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador.

Through the Instituto Terra, Salgado and Lélia also restored his father’s farm in Brazil to thriving rainforest by planting more than three million trees.

The institute’s statement added: “Sebastião was much more than one of the greatest photographers of our time.

“Alongside his life partner, Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado, he sowed hope where there was devastation and brought to life the belief that environmental restoration is also a profound act of love for humanity.”