Sundaram Tagore Gallery Singapore

PUBLISHED May 20th, 2014 07:53 am | UPDATED May 9th, 2018 03:13 am

For his first solo gallery exhibition in Singapore, Sebastião Salgado, one of the world’s most respected photographers, presents iconic black-and-white images spanning twenty years of his career. More than twenty-five photographs from the Genesis series will be on view, as well as works from five other series, including Workers and Migrations.

Salgado has made it his life’s work to document the impact of globalization on humankind. In the past three decades he has travelled to more than one hundred countries for his photographic projects and devotes years to each series in order to grasp the full scope of his topic.

In his Workers and Migrations series, Salgado captures the fragility and fortitude of the human spirit and infuses empathy and respect for his subjects. His prints lay bare some of the bleakest moments of modern history. In Workers (1986-1993), his images tell the story of firefighters in Kuwait’s oil fields; canal workers in Rajasthan, India; gold miners at Serra Pelada, Brazil; and countless other impoverished individuals. Migrations (1993-1999) documents the mass displacement of people across thirty-five countries as a result of social, political, economic and environmental disparities.

Genesis, a series that was eight years in the making, comprises hauntingly beautiful photographs of majestic landscapes, serene wildlife and ancient civilizations untouched by modern society. Salgado made more than thirty-two trips, capturing remote realities and paying homage to unspoiled nature: surreal icebergs in Antarctica, the isolated Zo’é tribe in Brazil, monumental crevices in Arizona’s Grand Canyon, and Africa’s native animals in Kafue National Park, Zambia.

There will be a private preview with the artist on 20 May from 6pm – 9pm. The exhibition is open from 20 May till 6 July, and will be held from Tuesday – Saturday from 11am – 7pm and Sunday from 11am – 6pm.