Sebastiao Salgado quotes

Sebastião Salgado is a renowned Brazilian photographer, celebrated for his powerful black-and-white images documenting social issues and human suffering. His work often highlights marginalized communities, laborers, and the beauty and fragility of the natural world. He has received numerous international awards and continues to influence contemporary documentary photography. Here are 17 of his quotes:

We live in a society where we never prepare people to be a community.

Sebastiao Salgado

As in any person's life, there have been difficult moments: I have a son with Down's syndrome; through my photography, I have witnessed all manner of human degradation. But there have also been very happy moments.

Sebastiao Salgado

We are animals, born from the land with the other species. Since we've been living in cities, we've become more and more stupid, not smarter. What made us survive all these hundreds of thousands of years is our spirituality; the link to our land.

Sebastiao Salgado

So many times I've photographed stories that show the degradation of the planet. I had one idea to go and photograph the factories that were polluting, and to see all the deposits of garbage. But, in the end, I thought the only way to give us an incentive, to bring hope, is to show the pictures of the pristine planet - to see the innocence.

Sebastiao Salgado

I am a former economist. I never went to photography school to learn photography.

Sebastiao Salgado

I have two children. I have a Down syndrome child whom I love very much, and my wife that I love.

Sebastiao Salgado

In the end, the only heritage we have is our planet, and I have decided to go to the most pristine places on the planet and photograph them in the most honest way I know, with my point of view, and of course it is in black and white, because it is the only thing I know how to do.

Sebastiao Salgado

I work on stories rather than individual pictures.

Sebastiao Salgado

The light in Alaska in particular is so beautiful. So beautiful! Such incredible light.

Sebastiao Salgado

The language that photography has is a formal language. Any photographer is doing something formal. If it's formal, then it must be an aesthetic way to communicate.

Sebastiao Salgado

I discovered photography completely by chance. My wife is an architect; when we were young and living in Paris, she bought a camera to take pictures of buildings. For the first time, I looked through a lens - and photography immediately started to invade my life.

Sebastiao Salgado

There are moments that you suffer a lot, moments you won't photograph. There are some people you like better than others. But you give, you receive, you cherish, you are there. When you are really there, you know when you see the picture later what you are seeing.

Sebastiao Salgado

I'm not a religious person. The language of photography is symbolic.

Sebastiao Salgado

Of course I will continue photography. I love photography. But when you become old, it's too much.

Sebastiao Salgado

Of course, I won't be abandoning photography, because it is my life.

Sebastiao Salgado