SALGADO, Sebastião - Genesis

Background information

"The book is the result of an epic eight-year expedition to rediscover the mountains, deserts and oceans, the animals and peoples that have so far escaped the imprint of modern society - the land and life of a still-pristine planet.

'Some 46 per cent of the planet is still as it was in the time of genesis,' Sebastião SALGADO reminds us. 'We must preserve what exists.' The Genesis project, along with Sebastião SALGADO's Instituto Terra, are dedicated to showing the beauty of our planet, reversing the damage done to it, and preserving it for the future. Over 32 trips - traveled by foot, light aircraft, seagoing vessels, canoes, and even balloons, through extreme heat and cold and in sometimes dangerous conditions.

Content

Sebastião SALGADO created a collection of images showing us nature, animals, and indigenous peoples in such shocking and intense beauty as to take one's breath away. Mastering the monochrome with an extreme deftness to rival the virtuoso Ansel ADAMS, Sebastião SALGADO brings black and white photography to a new dimension; the tonal variations in his works, the contrasts of light and dark, recall the works of Old Masters such as Rembrandt and Georges de la Tour. On the earth is instilled a glistening, textured fabric so intricate in its weave that even the most finite details seem to extend to infinity. What does one discover in 'Genesis'? The ancient animal species and volcanoes of the Galapagos; penguins, sea lions, cormorants, and whales of the Antarctic and South Atlantic; Brazilian alligators and jaguars; African lions, leopards, and elephants; the isolated Zo'e tribe deep in the Amazon jungle; the Stone Age Kurowai people of West Papua; nimadic Dinka cattle farmers in Sudan; Nenet nomads and their reindeer herds in the Arctic Circle; Mentawai jungle communities on islands west of Sumatra; the icebergs of the Antarctic; the volcanoes of Central Africa and the Kamchatka Peninsula; Saharan deserts; the Negro and Jurua rivers in the Amazon; the ravines of the Grand Canyon; the glaciers of Alaska...and beyond. Having gone, quite literally in some cases, where no man has gone before, and having spent so much time, energy, and passion dedicated to the making of this work, Sebastião SALGADO likens 'Genesis' to 'my love letter to the planet.'" (publisher's note, © Taschen Verlag, 2013)

Review

"'Genesis' is something new, something quite different. Stylistically and conceptually it is a new direction." (© The Sunday Times Magazine)

"Je ne me souviens plus de ce que je me suis offert avec mon premier salaire – je venais d’entrer dans l’équipe de préfiguration du Centre Georges-Pompidou (1974) – mais je sais ce que je me suis offert avec mon dernier salaire: une souscription au prochain et superbe livre que publiera Sebastião Salgado sur son nouveau travail, dans quelques moins, aux éditions TASCHEN." (Jean-Luc Monterosso, MEP)

About the photographer, Sebastião SALGADO

Photo books by Sebastião SALGADO