Perhaps I’m a little late on the Sebastião Salgado bandwagon but I’m really glad I jumped on. Sebastião Salgado is a veteran documentary / photojournalism photographer from Brazil. I believe most of the shots above were shot with a Leica M7 with mostly Kodak’s T-Max 400 film. I’ve also read that Mr. Salgado has switched to digital format in recent years. Either way, his photographs floored me. I was at Samy’s Camera here in Los Angeles and they had his book Genesis on display. I could have sat and viewed that book for days. Each image had me staring at it for a good length of time. Salgado’s work is the kind of work that makes me want to quit photography entirely because it’s just too good.
I could go on and on about his work but go ahead and do your own research on Sebastião Salgado.
Sebastião Salgado Wiki
If you think you’re having a rough start to the week, flip through the portfolio of photojournalist Lynsey Addario. The images Addario captures may not inspire you directly per se but, at least you’re not one of the victims in some of her photos. What she is doing is completely mind blowing to me. As a photographer, I live to capture moments as intense and raw as these but at what cost? It looks that Addario really puts her life on the line to capture images and stories that she can share with the rest of the world. Here’s a snippet of who Lynsey Addario is taken from her website’s bio:
Lynsey Addario is an American photojournalist based in New Delhi, India, where she photographs for The New York Times, National Geographic, and Time Magazine.
Lynsey began photographing professionally in 1996-with no professional photographic training or studies-and started photographing conflict and humanitarian issues. In 2000, she traveled to Afghanistan under Taliban rule to document life and oppression under the Taliban. She has since covered conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Darfur, and Congo, and shoots features across the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa.
Addario’s work is NSFW. I selected images that would compliment this blog’s style. But be warned, there is a lot of gruesome photos. I honestly can’t put her work into words. It’s an experience that made my heart drop, eyes widen with jaw on the floor.
View the rest of Lynsey Addario’s work at her website.
