Brazilian photographer and conservationist Sebastião Salgado, who became known for his award-winning images of nature and human life, has died aged 81.
The Terra Institute, which he and his wife founded, confirmed the news on Friday but provided no further information about the cause of Salgado's death or where it occurred.
The French Academy of Fine Arts, of which Salgado was a member, also confirmed his loss.
The photographer had suffered from various health problems over the years after contracting malaria in the 1990s.
“Sebastian was not only one of the greatest photographers of our time,” Instituto Terra said in a statement. “His camera revealed the world and its contradictions; his life (brought) the power of transformative impact.”
“We will continue to honor his legacy by cultivating the land, justice and beauty he deeply believed in restoring,” they added.
The life and work of Salgado, one of Brazil's most renowned artists, was chronicled in the documentary film Salt of the Earth (2014), co-directed by Wim Wenders and his son Juliano Ribeiro Salgado.
He has received numerous awards and was elected as an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992 and the French Academy of Fine Arts in 2016.
Salgado was born in Aimores, in the countryside of Minas Gerais state in Brazil. In 1969, when Brazil fell under military dictatorship, he moved to France.
He dedicated himself entirely to photography in 1973, a few years after graduating with a degree in economics.
His style is characterized by black and white images, rich tones and emotionally charged scenes. His main interests included poor communities.
His significant works include the recent Amazonia series, Workers, which showcases manual labor around the world, and Exodus (also known as Migrations or Sahel), which documents people on the move, including refugees and slum dwellers.
Salgado and his wife, Lélia Vanic Salgado, founded the agency Amazonas Images, which exclusively handles his work.
He is also survived by his sons Juliano and Rodrigo.
The Brazilian newspaper Folha de S.Paulo, which has published much of Salgado's work over the past decades, reported that he recently cancelled a meeting with journalists in the French city of Reims due to health reasons.
He was due to attend an exhibition of his son Rodrigo's work on Saturday, the newspaper reported.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
