Sebastião Salgado. GENESIS

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The Genesis project unveils a photographic journey through the planet's unspoiled regions where man lives in harmony with nature. A visual tribute to the majesty and fragility of planet Earth. In this article we cover an in depth perspective about the project, exhibition and book, while showcasing an deep interview with the creator and revealing some genial photographs from the Genesis collection that you should study. So as a kind of dual restoration project—for himself and his Brazilian paradise lost—Salgado and his wife began reforesting his family property. There are now more than 2 million new trees there. Birds and other wildlife have returned in such numbers that the land has become a designated nature reserve. As his personal world regenerated, Salgado got an idea: For his next project, why not travel to unspoiled locales—places that double as environmental memory banks, holding recollections of earth’s primordial glories? His purpose, Salgado decided, “would not be to photograph what is destroyed but what is still pristine, to show what we must hold and protect.” He likes to quote a hopeful statistic: “45% of our planet is still what it was at the beginning.”

I very much like to work on long-term projects. There is time for the photographer and the people in front of the camera to understand each other. There is time to go to a place and understand what is happening there. When you spend more time on a project, you learn to understand your subjects. There comes a time when it is not you who is taking the pictures. Something special happens between the photographer and the people he is photographing. He realizes that they are giving the pictures to him.” Takeaway point: When we photograph people, there is a hidden connection between us (the photographer) and people on the streets (the subject). If it weren’t for this relationship, a photograph couldn’t be made. I feel if you want to become truly fulfilled as a photographer, it is important to work on some sort of “project” in your photography. To simply work on snapping single-images can become a dead-end.

The biggest danger for a photographer is if they start thinking they are important”. Takeaway point: For example in my “ Suits” project, I want to make socio-economic commentary/critique about the stress, anxiety, and pain of working corporate to just make more money, to earn more prestige, and to get more power. I also try to make the project personal, as that is how I felt when I worked corporate. a b " Mr. Sebastiao Ribeiro Salgado", American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Accessed 13 August 2014.

GENESIS, a new opus is the result of an epic eight-year expedition to rediscover the mountains, deserts and oceans, the animals and peoples that have so far escaped the imprint of modern society – the land and life of a still pristine planet. The GENESIS project, along with the Salgados’ Instituto Terra, are dedicated to showing the beauty of our planet, reversing the damage done to it, and preserving it for the future. At the end of the day, the amount of dedication and time you put into your project is personal preference. We all have different goals, ambitions, and hopes for our photography. I have a problem in photography. I get too comfortable at home (when not traveling). I like the comfort of my desk, I like the comfort of the internet, and I like the comfort of not being subjected to the elements (cold and heat). But if you want your photographs to feel more intimate— you have to make yourself more vulnerable to your subjects. Photographers who don’t open up to their subjects end up taking emotionally cold images.

Recommended Books by Sebastiao Salgado

Rather than just going to work and leaving at the same time each day, perhaps on certain days you will get into work a bit earlier and leave a bit earlier (and shoot after work). Or perhaps you can go into work later, and then leave later (and do some night time street photography). d) Travel Sahel: The End of the Road. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-520-24170-1. I had worked with Nikon for a few years in the past and it disappointed me. Today I only work with Canon and that’s what works for me. Do not concern ourselves with the equipment that great photographers have, they are in another reality. They fly at ANOTHER altitude. What they did to arrive at that altitude was the result of their work, the photographic content and not their equipment. So, do your work with love and dedication and one day you may get there too. For Genesis I went to see what was pristine on the planet,” said Salgado. “I had previously photographed just one animal, humans, and now I went to photograph all kinds of animals. Through this work I was transformed into an environmentalist.”

My pictures gave me 10 times more pleasure than the reports I was working on. To be a photographer was, for me, an incredible way to express myself, an incredible way to the see the world from another point.”Rather, try to save that money to travel. Studies have shown that happiness can only be “bought” if you spend it on experiences, not stuff. It is uncertain how long we will live. Who knows, maybe tomorrow we might get hit by a bus, we might find out we have some incurable form of cancer, or we might get into a car accident. Life is short and uncertain. Of the many reasons one should spend some time visiting Magnum Opus, perhaps the most pertinent is that these photographs inspire feelings that we do not get enough of. Looking at Salgado’s work, one feels a sense of connection with the people and animals inhabiting the world around us, as well as thankfulness for the splendor that exists all over the Earth.

The Rio Doce is a 600-mile river. We believe that in 35 years we can recuperate the river to what it once was. I met with the president of Brazil. If this pilot project works well it can be applied to any river in the country and protect our water sources. Other countries must do the same. When you see the Rio Grande, the Green River, the Colorado River, they are all dying. The amount of water is being reduced. He has traveled in over 120 countries for his photographic projects. Most of these have appeared in numerous press publications and books. Touring exhibitions of his work have been presented throughout the world. I tell a little bit of my life to them, and they tell a little of theirs to me. The picture itself is just the tip of the iceberg. Takeaway point: I don’t believe a person has a style. What people have is a way of photographing what is inside them. What is there comes out.” If you drive to work, perhaps take another route that is unfamiliar. If you walk to work, walk another route. Take your camera with you, and photograph what you find interesting along the way.I think as street photographers, we generally play the “distant observer” — and prefer not to interact with our subjects.