'Legend', 'Brazil's greatest photographer': the repercussions of Sebastião Salgado's death

Cultural and political figures mourned the death of photographer Sebastião Salgado , this Friday 23rd.

President Lula (PT) even interrupted an official event and asked for a minute of silence. He said that Salgado is “if not the greatest, one of the greatest and best photographers the world has ever produced.”

In an official statement published minutes later, the president said he was “deeply saddened” by the death and cited the photographer’s “nonconformity” regarding inequality.

“ Salgado did not just use his eyes and his camera to portray people: he also used the fullness of his soul and his heart. For this very reason, his work will continue to be a cry for solidarity,” says the text.

Vice President Geraldo Alckmin (PSB) wrote on social media that the photographer's lenses revealed “the beauties and injustices of the world.” “A celebration of life and nature and a call to conscious action, in favor of an inclusive and sustainable world.”

The Minister of Culture, Margareth Menezes , took to social media and said that “her lens captured the soul of the world, with a human, poetic and deeply transformative gaze”.

Finance Minister Fernando Haddad (PT) also spoke out on social media, saying that he had lost a friend and that “Brazil has lost one of the greatest exponents of world photography”.

The French Academy of Fine Arts, of which Salgado had been a member since 2016, expressed its “deep regret” over his death. The organization will publish a new press release soon.

Photographer Patrick Witty, head of the White House photography team and who has worked for outlets such as the New York Times and National Geographic , said the Brazilian was a “legend.”

Fellow photographer Gabriela Biló, from Folha de S. Paulo , wrote on social media: “The greatest photographer in Brazil and one of the greatest in the world rests today. Rest in peace, Sebastião Salgado .”

Other manifestations

The president of the Chamber of Deputies, Hugo Motta (Republicanos-PB), said that Salgado “leaves a legacy in art that always encourages us to reflect on the paths and decisions we take”.

Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, president of the Federal Supreme Court, stated that the photographer is a “Brazilian cultural heritage, had his sights set on environmental protection, indigenous communities and other important causes for humanity”.

For Minister Cármen Lúcia, president of the Superior Electoral Court, “Sebastião was Salgado only in his surname: a human being who showed total sweetness, even in his photographed denunciations of the indignities and wounds of the world”.

The profile of the Homeless Workers Movement on X published: “Sebastião Salgado’s view of the country since redemocratization has shaped the national imagination with photos of the people’s struggle and experiences. Today, Brazil bids farewell to a great artist. Rest in peace, salt of the earth.”