Visited in March 2025.
During our recent visit to Mexico City, we had the privilege of attending Sebastião Salgado’s Amazônia exhibition at the National Museum of Anthropology. It wasn’t just a photography exhibit — it was a visceral, immersive journey into one of the last untouched places on Earth. Salgado, a Brazilian social documentary photographer and photojournalist, is known for his powerful black-and-white imagery that often captures the dignity and resilience of marginalized communities. With Amazonia, he shifts the focus to the environment itself — and the Indigenous peoples who have long served as its stewards.
The exhibition, curated in collaboration with Lélia Wanick Salgado (his wife and creative partner), combines over 200 black-and-white photographs taken over six years across the Brazilian Amazon. The images are breathtaking: sweeping aerial views of thick jungle canopies, intimate portraits of Indigenous communities, and awe-inspiring shots of thunderclouds rolling over river basins. But beyond their visual beauty lies a stark message — that the Amazon is both a wonder of nature and a fragile ecosystem under constant threat.
One of the most remarkable elements of Amazonia is how Salgado uses photography not just to document, but to advocate. He doesn’t romanticize Indigenous life; rather, he presents it with dignity and nuance. His lens invites us to see these communities not as relics of a distant past, but as vibrant societies whose knowledge and ways of life are vital to the survival of the rainforest. In doing so, he subtly critiques modernity’s detachment from nature and our role in the Amazon’s destruction.
The exhibition space at the Anthropology Museum amplified the experience. Surrounded by immersive soundscapes — composed by Jean-Michel Jarre using recordings of rainforest sounds — we felt transported. It was an emotional experience: awe, sorrow, hope, and even a sense of responsibility. One photo in particular, of a Yanomami elder gazing into the distance, stayed with us. It was not just a portrait, but a silent testimony of wisdom, endurance, and urgency.
Salgado’s background in economics adds another layer to his work. He understands global systems, and his work reflects the intersection of economy, environment, and human rights. After decades of documenting human suffering — from famine in Africa to migration crises — Salgado turned to nature with the same moral intensity. Amazonia is not a departure from his previous work, but rather its continuation. It is about preservation, about connection, and ultimately, about survival.
In an age where climate change is no longer a distant threat but a lived reality, Amazonia reminds us what is at stake. Salgado’s work is a call to action, a prayer, and a celebration — all in one.
If you have the chance to visit this exhibition, do it. And if not, seek out the catalog, the film The Salt of the Earth, or any of Salgado’s work. His photography is not just seen — it’s felt.
