The Salt of the Earth

THE SALT OF THE EARTH

A documentary on the photographer, Sebastiao Salgado's passion for exposing worlds that are hidden from our view as well as the undercurrents of man's greed, violence and inhumanity - all through what co-director Wim Wenders explains is the process of " drawing with light." The other director is Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, the photographer's son. For many years, I have been beguiled by Salgado's black and white imagery, particularly as source material and inspiration for many of my own late 1980s pastels. His representations are stark and at the same time filled with an expanse of tones - from the deep darkness of coal to the blinding whites which shine with the force of incorporeality; a range of imperceptibly varied grays sandwiched in-between - all breathtakingly beautiful and often reduced to abstract patternings which are in danger of overtaking his subjects, but Salgado is a master at balancing form and content.

I was particularly moved by his photographs of the fierce deprivation that droughts and famine had wreaked on Sub- Saharan Africa - particularly Ethiopia. Because Salgado exposed situations that many people were not aware of, his photos drilled a space for perception into our consciousness. Salgado has traveled to over 100 countries - projects often lasted years and the resulting books include OTHER AMERICAS, WORKERS, SAHEL - THE END OF THE ROAD, MIGRATIONS, Africa, and most recently GENESIS - the book that became his respite after years away from his native environs, witnessing the globe's devastation, including chronicling the genocide in Rawanda and the Congo. By the late 1990's he was heartbroken: "We humans are a terrible animal; we are extremely violent…Our history is a history of war; it's an endless story…My soul was sick…I no longer believed in anything, in any salvation for the human species." (Quotes from Kenneth Turan's review in LA Times.)

THE SALT OF THE EARTH invites us to enter Salgado's personal sphere; we meet his beloved wife Leila, the enduring relationship of his life, the editor of his photographs; the mother of Juliano and Rodrigo - the youngest born with Down syndrome; the compassion and love that unites the entire family in their own personal struggles with domesticity, and the enormous achievement of reclaiming the cattle ranch that was once Salgado's home near the town of Aimores in Brazil's state of Minas Gerais. Memories of the fecund greenery and waterfalls were incised into Sebastiao's childhood recollections and when he returned in the 1990's his homeland was an environmental disaster - dry and parched.

Salgado, his spirit quenched by regarding the pillage, and spoliation around the universe was re-invigorated by Leila's dream of planting a forest in Brazil starting with a few trees and "returning the property to its natural state of subtropical rainforest…and in April 1998 they founded the Instituto Terra, an environmental organization…which has now been declared a Private Natural Heritage Reserve, some 17,000 acres of deforested and badly eroded land… have undergone a remarkable metamorphosis…More than four million seedlings native to Brazil's Atlantic Forest have been raised in the institute's own nursery…" * This resuscitation propelled Salgado to travel again focusing on the beauties of the planet, resulting in his latest book GENESIS. ( *About us -The Instituto Terra.) http://bit.ly/1JQQzvd

The documentary uses Salgado's majestic photographs interspersing them with site visits to previously unrecorded locations, including old color footage; using his voice and conversations to great effect. We get a sense of the quiet strength of this man, his commitment to justice and the deep suffering that his vision extracts with the lens of a camera. The plethora of interchangeable living beings moving about silhouetted against the background of clouds billowing in the infinite skies, underscore the brevity of time and existence. We are only here for a short interval and Salgado's output is a plea for respect, justice and accommodation among the men/women/animals and the frangible cosmos we all inhabit.

A fascinating Wim Wenders documentary about Brazilian photographer, Sabastiao Salgado, detailing his life, and varied photographic projects from around the world. Wonderfully filmed, imaginatively edited.

Mainly known as a social photographer, Sabastiao Salgado has documented and revealed the horrors of war, famine and poverty. His travels around the world have accessed hidden brutalities and exposed injustices.

Perhaps as a respite from the human extremes he has witnessed he has recently moved on to projects about the environment. The film features many of his photos and numerous interviews with insights into his personal life.

Living in an age where Hollywood seems to believe that churning out CGI-promoted explosion orgies is the only recipe for success, this quiet documentary about the career of Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado may disappoint some audiences. Basically you only get to see the Salgado's photos and Salgado's face commenting them and telling the stories that are lurking behind. Most of the movie is made in black and white. The effect could not have been greater. Not only are the viewers stunned by the visual brilliance of the pictures and their monumental qualities but they also learn a lot about the tragedies of famines and genocides that took place in Africa in the 1980s and 1990s. To be honest, these tragedies of unbelievable scope are widely forgotten in the western world. Salgado leads us into the darkest heart of humankind where absolute folly and chaos reign instead of rational judgment. Graduating as an economist, Salgado embarked on a decades-long journey as a photographer, investing all the money of his young family in professional equipment. I think it is unjust to consider him someone who makes his living by showing the misery of mankind, like some reviewer has suggested. If Salgado hadn't been there and clicked his camera, we would not have these photos now which give testimony to what really happened in Africa or Kuwait. Just think about the risks that the young father took on when he was travelling through famine-starved desert or civil war-torn regions! Apart from that, this fine documentary does not leave behind its audience in desperation; Wim Wenders deliberately ends this homage on a harmonious chord by showing a successful reforestation project in Brazil which was initiated by Salgado.

1. this is a very good documentary 2. the photographer has a unique eye and drive to travel to impossible places 3. only reason why I am giving it a 9 out of 10 is that I expected more happy moments along with all the starvation/war/struggling miner moments 4. I would still recommend this movie to any creative person who is interested in photography, human history, current events, and personal growth. 5. You will not be disappointed with his frames and photography skills! 6. they include personal moments and love stories to go along with his adventures and photography. 7. my favorite part was the scenes/photography about the Yugoslavian/Bosnian people and their struggles during the war because I used to be good friends with people from that culture back in my refugee days in Germany.

Go check out the movie!

"We are a ferocious animal. We humans are terrible animals. Our history is a history of wars. It's an endless story, a tale of madness." – Sebastião Salgado

Directed by Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado this documentary goes through the life of the photographer Sebastião Salgado, from its childhood times in Minas Gerais until his current role as an activist and founder of Instituto Terra. Not following the typical poetic and metaphorical style, and sometimes pretentious, that characterizes Wim so much, this documentary follows a simple line, however it's not a light viewing. In fact, it's hard, graphic and even chocking in some parts. Divided between the outside interpretations of Wim and Juliano, they reckon their perspectives were complemented with each other's, Juliano as son of Sebastião and Wim as the outside look, admirer of Salgado's work. But it's when Sebastião analyzes its photographs, the highlight of the film, that we realize who he really is and what he testified, transporting us into an incredible journey of anger, despair and hope.