Sebastião Salgado, a celebrated Brazilian photographer known for his striking images of life and nature in the Amazon rainforest, passed away on Friday at the age of 81.
His death was announced by Instituto Terra, the environmental nonprofit organization he co-founded with his wife. The statement did not provide details about the location of his passing or the cause of death; however, family members noted that he had experienced frequent health issues after contracting malaria.
Instituto Terra described Salgado as “much more than one of the greatest photographers of our time,” highlighting how his lens captured the world and its contradictions, as well as illustrating the power of transformative action through his life’s work.
Known for his black-and-white photography, Salgado received widespread acclaim for his depictions of the Amazon rainforest and its inhabitants. He notably documented impoverished communities in Brazil and beyond, including his famous 1986 series featuring workers in a gold mine in the Brazilian state of Pará.
Throughout his esteemed career, Salgado was awarded some of photography’s highest honors, such as the Leica Oskar Barnack Award and multiple World Press Photo awards. He was also recognized as an honorary member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992 and later of the French Academy of Fine Arts in 2016.
Born on February 8, 1944, in Aimorés, a small town in Minas Gerais, Brazil, Salgado left his home country for France following the rise of a military dictatorship in the late 1960s.
A complete obituary will be published soon.