Migrations : Humanity in Transition

Rating:
Summary: Greatest Living Photographer
Review: Salgado is without a doubt the greatest photographer alive today. His pictures are like paintings in black and white, where he has taken the light and applied it with a paint-brush as if he were Rembrandt or Caravaggio. He is that good.

But you must also take a step back at some point and remember what it is you are seeing: misery and suffering and depravity on a unbelievable scale.

And that is the tension within Salgado's work and the source of the criticism of much of his work.

His photographs of the Brazilian gold mines are unforgettable and feel as if you were witnessing something biblical. His photograph of the refugees in the Sudan, starving huddled under a tree with the sun streaking in behind them is a painting, of unparrelled mastery of light and shadow and raw human misery. His photograph of the a mother bouncing a her baby girl on her lab in a refugee camp for victims of Rawandan's genocide, the steam rising from the pot next to them, the sun rising over the mountains in the back, the other refugees shivering with their coats over their heads, and the little baby and her mother smiling broadly -- it is haunting.

Salagado is a master -- there is no question about it. From someone who dreamt of being a photographer himself, when I saw his pictures for the first time, my immediate feeling was to throw away my camera. There was no competing. He is the best and the standard by which all photographer working today are to be judged against.


Rating:
Summary: The right combination
Review: Ex-economist Salgado keeps a rational mind while making exquisite emotional photographs, reproduced to the highest standard. As much as anyone could want to know about the world's unsettled peoples.

Rating:
Summary: "The World's Greatest Living Photographer of the Poor"
Review: For anyone that wants a photographic window on the psychological and social condition of the world's poor, especially those that are homeless or displaced from their original homes, "Migrations" is an indispensable book. "Migrations" is similar to "Workers", Salgado's 1993 book, but somehow is even more emotionally intense as "Migrations" subjects live even more precariously. The geographic span is even larger, ranging across Asia, Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America, and selected shots of Europe and North America.

Salgado, a former economist who worked briefly for the World Bank and the IMF, but left to become a photographer because he thought he could do more for the world's poor through photography, has undoubtedly succeeded. It is hard to imagine a more powerful statement than his photographs. I was fortunate enough to see the exhibit of these photographs at the Museum of the Universe in Rio de Janeiro the day before the exhibit closed, August 5, 2000. I also saw a slide show of "Migrations" set to music in the museum's planetarium. I was overcome by any of the photographs and moved to tears.

I was fortunate enough to meet Salgado during a lecture he gave during the exhibit of "Workers" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in 1993. While I cannot pretend to know a person after one brief meeting, he struck me as humble, brilliant, and perceptive, just like his photographs. Several centuries from now we will look at Salgado's photographs like we now look at Rembrandt's self-portraits: searing, penetrating images into the depths of the human soul.

Rating:
Summary: A piece of art
Review: I dont think Sebastiao Salgado needs any praise but this is the most beautiful book i have ever seen. The photographs are not only absolutely perfect but, most important, they tell us a story. the story of the movement of humanity. and make us think that we are only one, that borders should not matter.

Rating:
Summary: The epitomy of photojournalism
Review: If you don't feel something while looking at the photos in this book you are dead inside.

Rating:
Summary: The right combination
Review: Sebastiao Salgado has earned numerous accolades for his dignified photographs of impoverished humanity. This, his latest book, covers work he has done over the last few years, documenting forced migrations and economic squalor throughout the world. He is certainly a keen observer of the human condition. However, I felt completely overwhelmed looking at his work from this book when it was exhibited a few months ago at New York City's International Center of Photography. Looking at this book allowed me to step back, and catch my breath, studying each image at my leisure. Those interested in looking at some of the finest current work in black and white documentary photography will not be disappointed with this excellent collection.

Rating:
Summary: a voz do povo
Review: this book is an experience, as are all of Salgado's works. he relates to the reader his experiences and at the same time overwhelms us with the stories of the persons he is capturing, but the overall message is this: the future looks bleak. he says in his introduction (which I recommend everybody read), "The two ideologies of the 20th century, capitalism and communism, have failed us. Globalization is an option, but not a solution." Those statements could alone explain the images you'll see in the book. Anyone who buys this book will better understand the human condition, where we are at, and where we are headed. God bless Sebastiao Salgado, for he is truly a voice for the forgotten and neglected in this world, and a teacher to all of us who forget the human in us.

Rating:
Summary: A Study In Humanity
Review: What a subperb exhibition of the world's people on the move. I was fortunate enough to see the first exhibit of the Photography Exhibit that makes up this book when it was in Portugal in May/June, 2000. There, the book, along with the exhibit, is entitled "Exodos", and no more evocative book or exhibit is there.

Sebastio Selgato has truly outdone himself with this book--indeed, a masterpiece. Selgato, in my opinion, is the world's finest photojournalist to begin with, but "Migrations" not only is an extension of is past work, but actually surpasses it.

The composition and imagery is outstanding and the printing done by masters. I understand that Selgado does not do his own printing, but works with a team of printers. They did a splendid job printing some of the most evocative images I have yet to see.

Rating:
Summary: A Most Touching Document
Review: Without doubt Sebastiao Salgado is one of the greatest living photographers of our time. "Migrations" is the first book I bought after having seen his most interesting video tape "Looking Back at You".

In fact a most touching document on the migrations of people from all over the world-- having to escape from their native land to avoid being tortured or killed.

Apart from the technical excellence and quality Salgado's black and white photography has a certain magic about it that strongly reminds me of the work of photography greats like W. Eugene Smith or Henri Cartier-Bresson. However I have to admit that Salgado clearly has become my personal favorite. Being a photographer myself I highly admire Salgado's talent to produce such phantastic images of people in deep distress--showing things as they are, without having his subjects losing their dignity.

Some time ago a world famous photographer said that "...you can't photograph soul...". After looking at Salgado's work I think that's definitely not true.

This book clearly is a must have for every photography lover with special interest in black and white journalistic work. Can it get any better? This was my first Salgado book and it won't be my last...