World -renowned photographer Sebastiao Salgado died at 81

The world-renowned Brazilian documentalist and ecologist Sebastiao Salgado, known for his awarded photos of nature and people, has died at the age of 81 from leukemia, his family announced on Friday, the AP reported. « Through the lens of his camera, Sebastiao, tirelessly struggled for a fairer, humane and environmental world, » the family position said. It states that in 2010 in Indonesia, he became infected with a special form of malaria, which fifteen years later, after complications, passed into severe leukemia.

« Sebastiao was more than one of the best photographers of our time, » said a statement on Salgado and his wife Terra. One of the most famous Brazilian artists, although he always insisted that he was above all a photographer, Salgado had reflected his life and work in the documentary « Salt of the Earth » (2014), directed jointly by Wim Wenders and his son, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado.

Black and white images and a rich tone

Sebastio Salgado won a number of awards and was elected an honorary member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in the United States in 1992 and of the French Academy of Fine Arts in 2016. « I pay tribute to the memory of an exceptional person – his self -made, charisma and dedication to the art. Petizhirar, Secretary of the French Academy of Fine Arts.

Reuters

Born in 1944 in the city of Aymores, in the province of Minas Grace to Brazil, Salgado moved to France in 1969 when Brazil was experiencing military dictatorship. He was devoted entirely to photography in 1973, years after graduating from economics.

Its style is characterized by black and white images, rich tone and emotionally loaded scenarios. It is of particular interest in the poor communities, the AP notes.

If the photographer is gone, there is no image

Salgado and his wife have been working since the 1990s to restore part of the Atlantic Forest in Minas Grace. In 1998, they turned a plot of land they owned into a nature reserve. That same year, they created Instituto Terra, which promoted afforestation and environmental education.

In an interview given to Forbes Brazil, which came out on Thursday, the photographer says: « How many times in my life have I left my camera aside and sat down to cry? Sometimes it was too dramatic and I was alone. It is the power of the photographer; if the photographer is not.