On May 23, 2025, the photography world lost one of its most iconic figures: Sebastião Salgado passed away at the age of 81. A French-Brazilian photographer, he dedicated his life to documenting human and environmental realities with unmatched sensitivity and depth.
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An Unconventional Journey: From Economics to Photography
Born in 1944 in Aimorés, Brazil, Salgado began his career as an economist, graduating from the University of São Paulo and the University of Paris. It was during missions in Africa for the International Coffee Organization that he discovered the power of photography to tell the story of the world.
In 1973, he left economics to devote himself entirely to photography, successively joining the Sygma, Gamma and Magnum Photos agencies. In 1994, with his wife Lélia Wanick Salgado, he founded Amazonas Images, an agency dedicated to his work.
A Humanist and Committed Body of Work
Salgado traveled to over 120 countries, capturing in black and white powerful images that reveal human dignity in the most challenging contexts. His landmark projects include “Other Americas” (1986), “Sahel: Man in Distress” (1986), “Workers” (1993), “Migrations” (2000), and “Genesis” (2013). His photo essay on the gold mine at Serra Pelada, in Brazil, remains one of his most striking works, depicting the human condition with rare intensity.
A Deep Environmental Commitment
Marked by the human tragedies he documented, Salgado turned his lens to nature with Genesis, an eight-year project aimed at showing the untouched beauty of the planet. Together with Lélia, he also founded the Instituto Terra in 1998, transforming a degraded area in Minas Gerais into a flourishing nature reserve, a symbol of hope and renewal.
Global Recognition
Salgado’s work was recognized with numerous awards, including the W. Eugene Smith Award, the Oskar Barnack Award in 1985, and more recently the Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award for his life’s work. In 2016, he was elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts of the Institut de France. His journey was also immortalized in the documentary The Salt of the Earth (2014), directed by Wim Wenders and his son Juliano Ribeiro Salgado.
In February 2024, Sebastião Salgado announced his retirement after half a century of photography around the globe. Weakened by health issues – he had contracted a severe form of malaria during a report in Indonesia in 2010 and survived a mine explosion in Mozambique in 1974. He chose to stop traveling but remained active as an editor of his monumental body of work.
Together with his wife Lélia Wanick Salgado, he planned to continue publishing and exhibiting thousands of previously unseen images, notably with a monumental exhibition scheduled for COP30, to be held in late 2025 in Brazil.
The French-Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado has died at 81, his family announced via a news release. “Through the lens of his camera, Sebastião tirelessly fought for a fairer, more humane, and more ecological world […] Fifteen years later, complications from this disease [malaria, Ed.] turned into severe leukemia, which ultimately claimed his life.”
A Posthumous Tribute at VIF 2025?
Salgado was to be the guest of honor at the VIF 2025 festival in Vincennes, with an exhibition and a talk hosted by Nikos Aliagas. Although his passing leaves an immense void, this event will be an opportunity to celebrate his legacy and immerse in his humanist vision.
Sebastião Salgado leaves behind a monumental body of work, a testament to his unwavering commitment to humanity and the planet. His gaze, filled with compassion and truth, will continue to inspire future generations.
