The world has recently lost Sebastião Salgado, a visionary photographer whose lens reshaped how we perceive environmental and social issues.
Salgado was not just an artist: he was a storyteller of the Earth. His images were powerful enough to shake consciences, spark debates and inspire action.
Through monumental projects like Genesis and Amazonia, Salgado offered us much more than beautiful images.
Genesis was a visual hymn to the origin of the planet. It was a journey to places where nature still reigns unspoilt, where animals, landscapes and ancient cultures coexist in delicate harmony.
Each black-and-white frame felt like a message from a world we are in danger of forgetting: a world that serves as a reminder of what is at stake.
In Amazonia, Salgado immersed himself even deeper in the heart of the rainforest. Living alongside indigenous peoples, he captured the breathtaking complexity of an ecosystem vital to the survival of our planet.
Through his lens, he revealed the Amazon not just as a place, but as a living, breathing entity — majestic, fragile and under threat. Salgado showed us the faces of the people who have guarded the forest for millennia, fighting for its survival and their own.
Salgado’s photography had a unique emotional impact. His images didn’t shout, they whispered truths that lingered. Rather than simply looking, viewers were invited to feel and connect with distant realities in an intimate way.
In an age overwhelmed by data, graphs and reports, Salgado reminded us that real change starts with emotion. His work bypassed our filters and spoke directly to the heart, raising awareness where numbers alone fall short.
Salgado understood that if we want people to care, we have to tell stories that move them. Genesis and Amazonia weren’t just art; they were acts of advocacy and calls to action, expressed through beauty. They made the invisible visible, the distant close and the threatened sacred.
Although he has passed away, the stories he told through these extraordinary projects still speak to us — and they have never been more needed than they are now.
Cover image: Di Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil - http://agenciabrasil.ebc.com.br/geral/foto/2016-10/camara-de-comercio-franca-brasil-premia-sebastiao-salgado, CC BY 3.0 br, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=52614059