Sebastião Salgado: Other Americas, The Photographers’ Gallery

Internationally acclaimed photographer Sebastião Salgado presents images from his award-winning body of work, Other Americas, in the Print Sales Gallery this autumn. From the ice drifts of Antarctica to herders moving their cattle through the dust of central Africa, Salgado has travelled the world documenting the very essence of humanity and widely thought of as the most important photographer of the 21st century. 

Other Americas & Salgado

For their next outstanding show, The Photographers' Gallery focuses on Salgado's 1986 publication Other Americas, which offers a distilled, yet incredibly powerful, survey of the South American continent. It includes images from Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala and Mexico that capture – in stunning black and white – the every day lives and hardships of individuals and farming communities. Taken between 1977 and 1984, the images of Other Americas explore a range of subjects, from changing rural landscapes, to spiritual and religious practices and intimate portraits of domestic life.

Sebastião Salgado photography style

These Sebastião Salgado photographs were shot during a time of extreme industrial growth, marred by harsh social inequalities and political turmoil. The harshness and cruelty of this period is present at every turn in Salgado’s arresting images, juxtaposed with these curious observations of tenderness and romance in humanity. The result is a remarkable series of emotive photographs, that invite us into a world where – in Salgado’s own words – “dignity and poverty ride on the same horse”.

Who is Sebastião Salgado? Biography

Born in Aimores, Brazil, in 1944, Salgado began working as a professional photographer in 1973 in Paris. He worked with a number of photographic agencies early in his career before forming Amazonas Images, an organisation devoted exclusively to his work, in 1994.

Other Americas is widely considered an attempt by Salgado to rediscover and reconnect with his native land in South America – and each photograph pulsates with a strong sense of understanding and respect between the subject and the photographer.

Perhaps this bond is what allows Salgado to work his magic so beautifully through the lens.