‘I photographed the world’: the career of Sebastião Salgado – in pictures

 

‘I photographed the world’: the career of Sebastião Salgado – in pictures

The Brazilian photographer has died at 81, leaving behind a career filled with striking images taken around the world. ‘Through the lens of his camera, Sebastião tirelesslyfought for a more just, humane and ecological world,’ a statement from his family read.

Friday 23 May 2025

A girl selling toffee apples near Guatemala City in 1978.

Photograph: Sebastião Salgado

Sebastião Salgado at 80: ‘They say I was an aesthete of misery’

 

Photographer

Sebastião Salgado working in his Paris studio days before he turned 80. The photographer, who made his name with social documentary, became increasingly focused on the environment in the 1990s. Photograph: Ed Alcock/Guardian

Sebastião Salgado at 80: ‘They say I was an aesthete of misery’

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The legendary photojournalist looks back on a life committed to documenting people and the planet, and explains why nature became his focus