Sebastio Salgado

(1944-) Documentary, Photojournalism

Biography: Sebastio Ribeiro Salgado, Jr. was born February 8, 1944 in Aimores, Minas Gerais, Brazil. He was the sixth child in a family of eight children and the only boy.

In 1968 he earned his master's degree in economics from Sao Paulo University, Brazil and Vanderbilt University in the United States. After graduation he worked for the Brazilian Ministry of Finance from 1968 t0 1969. In 1969 to 1971 he completed his coursework for his doctorate in economics at the University of Paris.

In 1973 Salgado began to work as a photo reporter, first covering the drought in the Sahel region of Africa and then photographing the immigrant workers in Europe. He has received photojournalism's top awards for his documentary work. His work Autres Ameriques (Other Americas) was awarded the Kodak/City of Paris award; Sahel: L'Homme en Detresse won best photography book of the year from the international photography festival in Arles, France; and An Uncertain Grace, an Aperture book, was published in 1990 to enormous acclaim. Among many other citations, he has received the W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography and was named Photographer of the Year on two occasions by the International Center of Photography, New York. Salgado is based in Paris and his work is exhibited worldwide.

More on Sebastio Salgado:

•PDN & Kodak Present Sebastio Salgado
Wonderful Presentation of Salgado's work in Photgraphy.

•Terra: Brazil's Landless Movement
Extensive NY Times Special Site on Salgado's work in Brazil.