One of the truly great photographers
using Leica cameras is without a doubt Sebastão Salgado. He just finished a new, extensive series of
photographs titled “GENESIS.”
The International Center of
Photography (ICP) will be the first venue in the US to present
"Genesis." It will be on view from Sept. 19, 2014, through January
11, 2015. The exhibition is going to display more than 200 black-and-white
photographs.
NBC News reports “Sebastião Salgado has never shied away from ambitious photo
assignments. "Genesis"
attempts to show us what the world looked like before humans transformed it.
Begun in 2004, its main subjects are sweeping landscapes, wildlife and
frequently indigenous people living in harmony with the earth.”
On over 30 trips, traveled on foot,
by light aircraft, seagoing vessels, canoes, and even balloons, through extreme
heat and cold and in sometimes dangerous conditions – Salgado created a
collection of images showing us nature, animals, and indigenous peoples in such
shocking and intense beauty it takes our breath away. In GENESIS, one discovers
the animal species and volcanoes of the Galápagos; the penguins, sea lions,
cormorants, and whales of the South Atlantic; Brazilian alligators and jaguars;
and African lions, leopards, and elephants. Through Salgado’s lens, we travel
over icebergs in the Antarctic, the volcanoes of Central Africa, the ravines of
the Grand Canyon, and the glaciers of Alaska. We encounter the Stone Age
Korowai people of West Papua, nomadic Dinka cattle farmers in Sudan, Nenets and
their reindeer herds in the Arctic Circle, as well as the Mentawai jungle
communities on islands west of Sumatra.
Sebastião Salgado, Large sand dunes between
Albrg and Tin Merzouga, Tadrart. South of Djanet. Algeria.
2009. ©
Sebastião Salgado/Amazonas images-Contact Press Images.
Sebastião Salgado, In the
Upper Xingu region of Brazil’s Mato Grosso state, a group of Waura Indians fish
in the Puilanga Lake near their village. The Upper Xingu Basin is home to an
ethnically-diverse population, with the 2,500 inhabitants of 13 villages
speaking languages with distinct Carib, Tupi and Arawak roots. While they
occupy different territories and preserve their own cultural identities, they
co-exist in peace. Brazil. 2005. © Sebastião Salgado/Amazonas images-Contact Press Images.
Sebastião Salgado, Southern Right whales,
drawn to the Valdés Peninsula because of the shelter provided by its two gulfs,
the Golfo San José and the Golfo Nuevo, often navigate with their tails upright
in the water. When a tail stands immobile for tens of minutes, it is probable
that the whale is completely vertical in the water in a kind of resting
position; it has also been claimed that the whales use their tails as a sail,
allowing the wind to do the work. After close observation, it is possible to
predict when a whale will jump: a sudden and swift movement of the tail
provides the burst of energy that enables the whale to project its massive body
out of the water. Valdés Peninsula, Argentina. 2004. © Sebastião Salgado/Amazonas images-Contact Press Images.
Sebastião Salgado, Chinstrap penguins on
icebergs located between Zavodovski and Visokoi islands. South
Sandwich Islands. 2009. © Sebastião Salgado/Amazonas images-Contact Press Images.
The images are stunning. Salgado’s
style – high contrast black and white images with a seemingly endless depth of
field at times – has resulted in tremendous pictures of human labor, joy and
suffering for years. Genesis marks his first major effort applying his lens to
animals (whales, leopards, penguins and many more) and landscapes, with
tremendous results.
Taschen Books has published a huge
book with the images. This Collector’s
Edition, designed and edited by Lélia Wanick Salgado, features exquisitely
reproduced large-format images arranged not by theme or region but rather
conceived as a portfolio that takes beholders on a journey around the globe,
immersing them in Salgado’s vision of the Earth’s mesmerizing scale, order, and
beauty.
The book has a size of 46.8 x 70 cm
(18.4 x 27.6 in.) and is delivered in a wooden cargo box (total weight: 59 kg
[130 lb])
The photographer:
Sebastião Salgado began his career
as a professional photographer in Paris in 1973 and subsequently worked with
the photo agencies Sygma, Gamma and Magnum Photos. In 1994 he and his wife
Lélia created Amazonas images, which exclusively handle his work. Salgado’s
photographic projects have been featured in many exhibitions as well as books,
including Other Americas (1986), Sahel, L'Homme en détresse (1986), Workers
(1993), Terra (1997), Migrations (2000), The Children (2000) and Africa (2007).
The editor and author:
Lélia Wanick Salgado studied
architecture and urban planning in Paris. Her interest in photography started
in 1970. In the 1980s she moved on to conceiving and designing photography
books and organizing exhibitions, numerous of them on Sebastião Salgado. Since
1994 Lélia Wanick Salgado has been the director of Amazonas images.
International Center of Photography
1114 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd
Street
New York, NY 10036
Taschen Books
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Beautiful work, unfortunately Salgado switched from Leica to Canon (in the 1990's I believe).
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