Sebastião Salgado, renowned Brazilian photographer and environmental activist, passed away on Friday, May 23rd, 2025. Salgado is known for his evocative photography and deep connection to the earth. He spent more than eight years on an incredibly ambitious project entitled Genesis to photograph the planet’s remaining unspoiled landscapes. In doing so, his paintings expressed the complexity and beauty of nature’s forces. It emphasized the beauty and dignity of indigenous peoples and wildlife—what modern American society has mostly forgotten or ignored.
His amazing journey carried him over mountain ranges, deserts, oceans, and tundras—all showing him what our shared future may look like. He journeyed by foot, light aircraft, ocean-going vessels, canoes and even balloons while enduring the blisteringly hot and dangerous conditions. Salgado’s dedication to his craft resulted in a breathtaking collection of over 200 black-and-white photographs that have inspired countless individuals around the globe.
A Vision Realized Through Genesis
Salgado’s Genesis project is a monumental work that grew out of a gargantuan challenge he and his wife, Leila, accepted almost 20 years ago. The couple founded Instituto Terra, an organization focused on showcasing the planet’s beauty while working toward reversing environmental damage and preserving natural habitats for future generations.
As a result, throughout his long career Salgado produced many masterpieces. Yet he articulated and vividly captured the struggle between humanity and nature powerfully. His ongoing work, Workers, focuses on the disappearing lifestyle of the blue collar worker around the globe. Even more than art, it speaks to his profound respect for people who labor with their hands.
“You know, when you look at an exhibition like Genesis, it’s really the earth, the animals connected to the earth and Man,” said Salgado, reflecting on the interconnectedness of humanity with nature.
His exhibition, Genesis, toured internationally for more than six years. This caused viewers across the globe to be awed by the stunning beauty he was able to encapsulate in his photographs. This project served as a visual feast and as a clarion call for environmental awareness and preservation.
Commitment to Reforestation
Beyond his photographic artistry, Salgado moved from mere documentation to action against environmental destruction. After the demolition of his dad’s old farm in Brazil, he started an aggressive reforestation campaign. Over seven years, he worked alongside local communities in the Amazon to replant trees, ultimately restoring 750 hectares of land.
We planted 2.5 million trees—well actually, 2.7 million! It’s just a start, because now we’re getting ready to plant one more million trees on top of that,” he said during a recent interview on his environmental leadership. This commitment was a true testament to his belief that the country needed to get on the offensive to confront the climate crisis.
Salgado has long been deeply involved with indigenous communities in the Amazon. His work powerfully captured their profound relationship to the land and their sacred responsibility as protectors of the Earth’s future. Because of his own experiences in the field, he understood the need to center local voices in any conversation related to environmental policy and protection.
A Lasting Influence
Salgado’s impact reached far beyond the world of photography. He was a powerful, visionary advocate for change in environmental policy. He would frequently express frustration about the gap between the decision-makers in cities and those on the frontlines of environmental injustice.
“We have COP 21 that took place in Paris five years ago and despite everything that was put forward, nothing was done,” he stated critically. He pointed to this stagnation as a result of the exclusion of communities who are most in touch with the earth and what it produces.
His advocacy has influenced countless generations of photographers, environmentalists, and activists. It’s a great reminder that advocacy can take many forms, and art is one of the most powerful, effective tools at our disposal. He proved that photographs have the power to move hearts and inspire people to protect the world for future generations to enjoy.
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