Iconic Photographer Sebastiao Salgado Has Died

Legendary Brazilian social documentary photographer Sebastião Salgado has died at age 81.

Salgado — known for his powerful black-and-white imagery incorporating themes of poverty, war, displacement, and the environment — announced his retirement in February 2024 after years of working in hostile environments.

“I know I won’t live much longer. But I don’t want to live much longer. I’ve lived so much and seen so many things,” Salgado said in an interview last year.

Salgado suffered from a blood disorder that was a result of the malaria he caught while in Indonesia. He also had a spinal issue from when a landmine blew up a vehicle he was riding in during Mozambique’s War of Independence in 1974.

Born in Aimorés, Brazil, Salgado trained as an economist before turning to photography, a shift that led him to chronicle the global consequences of labor, migration, and environmental devastation.

Salgado’s major project — including Workers, Migrations, and Genesis — took him to over 120 countries, often photographing in extreme conditions. His signature high-contrast style and deep empathy earned him international acclaim and numerous awards.

Salgado received the Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award from the Sony World Photography Awards 2024.

He co-founded Amazonas Images and, with his wife Lélia Wanick Salgado, reforested over 1,500 acres of degraded land in Brazil, creating the Instituto Terra, a testament to their shared vision of renewal.

PetaPixel interviewed Salgado in 2022 about his project Amazônia which was nine years in the making.