Yanomami shaman converses with the spirits before the ascent to Mount Pico da Neblina. Amazonas state, Brazil, 2014
Inkjet over baryta paper
90 × 125 cm
[Photo: © Sebastião Salgado/Contrasto]
Sebastião Salgado is famous for his photographs which reveal the beauty and mystery of nature.
The series Amazônia, which includes Yanomami shaman, is born from a series of journeys taken by the artist to capture the incredible richness and variety of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest and the lifestyle of its peoples. Salgado settled in their villages for several weeks and took pictures of the different ethnic groups. In the seven years it took for Salgado to develop this project, he photographed plant life, rivers, mountains, and the people living there.
Sebastião Salgado currently lives in Paris. Having studied Economics, he began his career as a professional photographer in 1973 in Paris, working with the photo agencies Sygma, Gamma, and Magnum Photos until 1994, when he and Lélia Wanick formed the agency Amazonas images. Touring exhibitions of his work have been, and continue to be, presented throughout the world. Salgado has been awarded numerous major photographic prizes. He is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and an honorary member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in the United States. In 2004, Salgado began a project named Genesis. Together with his wife, Lélia, he has worked since the 1990’s on the restoration of a small part of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil: in 1998, they succeeded in turning this land into a nature reserve and created the Instituto Terra, dedicated to a mission of reforestation, conservation, and environmental education.