salgado

http://www.pdngallery.com/legends/legends10/

Is Salgado exploiting his subjects? Does he make pictures that exploit his audiences by making these “explicitly didactic” images? I think the answer to both of these questions is yes, in a sense, although I don’t think at all that is a negative statement on the work. I disagree with Kimmelman and am not convinced that he quite appreciates everything that Salgado has to offer. Kimmelman offers a relatively harsh criticism of Salgado as compared to Walker Evans, and dismisses it because of the differences he offers. Salgado is certainly not Evans, and I don’t think that he tries to be at all. I love Evan’s pictures of the Burroughs family and their home, but Salgado has a different process and philosophy behind his photography. This is what really interests me about this body of work. His intention is indeed very edifying, but I guess I am drawn to this notion of making a clear statement. I think Salgado’s pictures are absolutely tremendous. They are incredibly beautiful images that feel like they pierce your eyes and heart while giving you a gratifying aesthetic experience.

By not leaving ambiguity up to the viewer, I think Salgado’s work possesses a lot of power. He forces the viewer to interact with tragedy, hardship, and suffering through these humanizing portraits of people that have been dehumanized and oppressed. The pictures are poignant and dramatic, and bring to life the injustice and anguish of individuals whose lives have been shaped by the oppression that they endure without choice. His photographs are dramatic because they need to be.

Here’s a quote from an interview with Salgado:
“At this time, I want to speak out for immigrants, for those who live in such circumstances, and to speak out to those who can receive them. I want to show the immigrants' dignity in their willingness to integrate into another country, to show their courage and their entrepreneurial spirit and, not least, to demonstrate how they enrich us all with their individual differences. Above all, by using migration as an example, I want to show that a true human family can only be built on foundations of solidarity and sharing.”

He is speaking out for people who have no one to speak out for them. He uses photography as a means to communicate awareness about the world, but also understanding of other peoples and cultures. I find it callous to think that people think Salgado’s work to be sanctimonious or to revealed “signs of vanity.” Kimmelman captures it up well when he writes that “It’s a tricky business to get people to look at other people they may have spent a great deal of time trying, consciously or otherwise, not to notice.” Salgado’s photographs are wonderful and painful at the same time because they force you to acknowledge, in some part, the suffering of another human being.