The Salt of the Earth DVD

I’ve long been a fan of documentary photography, ever since I purchased a copy of  The Family Of Man  a half century ago. Another age, when “the great ones” roamed the world. There were the few who worked for the Farm Security Administration, and documented the plight of farmers during the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. And there was W. Eugene Smith, badly wounded in World War II, with his picture of hope as his two children walked out of the tunnel of trees into the light. Most regrettably, I had never heard of Sebastiao Salgado until I saw this movie. He has – brilliantly – maintained the fine tradition of documentary photography, and perhaps even improved on it. This movie documents his life and work.Salgado grew up in central Brazil, and is an economist by training, once going out to the countries he now provides images of, as a World Bank official. The documentary starts with a very large hole in the ground, in Brazil, where 50,000 men work every day, nary a machine in site, all in the pursuit of gold, climbing rickety ladders with their bags of dirt, one of which, all hope, will be “pay dirt.” Salgado climbs down into the hole to obtain those impressive pictures. Then there is a moving photograph of a blind Tuareg woman, that is reflective of his empathy for the all-too-many forgotten.Brazil was under a dictatorship when Salgado commenced his career. He decided to flee in August 1969 and settled in Paris. Lelia would become his wife. Early on, they made the decision to abandon the “safe career” of work with the World Bank, and take up photography. He would travel the world, often to destinations untrampled by tourists, to document the lives of people who may have never even heard the term: “celebrity culture.” People who can be called “the salt of the earth.”Salgado and his wife would select certain areas of the world as a “project.” The first area was the Sahel region of Africa. He went to Niger, in 1973 and photographed the devastation and deaths caused by the serious drought. A marabout predicted that his wife was pregnant. Their first child, Juliano, was born in Paris, 1974, and would, much later, help produce this film.From 1977 to 1984 the project was “the other Americas,” “profonde” South America, as the French might say, where “Liberation Theology,” medieval living conditions, and the music all co-existed. He would return to Brazil when the military dictatorship ended and document the northeast region, which he called the “Sahel” of Brazil, since it was also suffering from drought. His parents were now old, and the family farm devastated. The solution: one of my all-time favorites, straight out of Jean Giono’s  L'Homme Qui Plantait Des Arbres (French Edition) ).He would return to Africa, 1984 to ’86, again the drought, killing millions. He started in Ethiopia, and lived with the people of Tigray for two months, eventually accompanying them on their exodus to Sudan. They would be strafed by government helicopters along the way. Salgado denounced the central government for withholding food. He went on to Mali in 1985. There is absolutely no mention of his own health and logistics living under such conditions. His actions, and his telling photographs helped call attention to the plight of these peoples.His next project was on the workers of the world, a five-year project from 1986 to 1991. The resultant work was translated into many languages. He went to Kuwait in 1991, and photographed the oil field fires, started with the compliments of the retreating Iraq Army. Back to Africa, and he was in Tanzania when the genocide/civil war broke in Rwanda. On the road to Kilgali, there were “150 km of dead bodies.” He would go to Yugoslavia in 1995, and photograph that civil war. Back to Africa, the Congo, where 250,000 Rwandans were expelled from the town of Goma. Into the jungle, only 40,000 survived a long trek. They too would disappear, and only because Salgado was willing to get off the UN relief train, and stay with them, would any of this be known.He would make other journeys to Papua New Guinea, to his native Brazil to photograph a “lost tribe” that place a wooden tube through their chins, and to an uninhabited Siberian island to photograph the walruses. His latest book, “Genesis,” is of the natural world, the “half of the planet” that remains, still not impacted by humans (a rather amazing percentage, if true). What is true is that Salgado is an amazing man, who, along with his wife, have roamed the globe, providing vital and brilliant images of areas and people that receive virtually no attention. His books are “pricey,” but a collection of them should be considered essential. As for this movie, and its insights into Salgado and his work, 6-stars.

Nowhere in description did it say it couldn't play in Region 1. By time I discovered it, it was too late to return. And I really want to see this film!

Salgado was/is a HIGHLY dedicated, focused, admirable and UNIQUE photographer!! Though some parts of The Salt of the Earth were painful to view, all were compelling and some downright remarkable. After I watched it, I felt I must buy this - to not only see it again (and again) but to share with others. One is just not the same after seeing it! To go far from home, leave one's nuclear family for years at a time, and stay some places "as long as it took" to become intimate with a place/its people, not to mention taking risks great and small, now that's not your everyday career! (It was good to see that the son who was left at home with his mom - she who handled the archiving, editing and promoting of Salvado's published photo collections - for the majority of time in his growing up years, did in time travel and learn at the hand of this master, his father. His was an understanding and supportive family!)One question: The case says "Academy Award Nominee," who/what could have outdone (vote-wise) THIS documentary?Does anyone know?

Obviously the brief synopsis and cover images on here are WAY off base but the film itself is great, I've been a fan of Salgado since I saw the show on the Ethiopian famine back in the mid 80's. If you're looking for a film about nature photography this isn't it, it is a powerful, moving and gut wrenching account of the human condition spanning decades.

This is a very special film - photographs taken of The People in many lands and cultures, under many different circumstances - most in grueling conditions of either hard labor and poverty. The majority are born into these circumstances and will spend the rest of their lives working and living this way. Sebastiao Salgado spent his life chronicling the lives of People - just "ordinary" People. It was this film which had he and his wife return to Brazil where they were born and where, together, they recreated the land in which he's been raised. This gave rise to his wonderful book "Genesis" because they restored the land that had been savaged by others.

I absolutely love and profoundly respect Mr Salgado and his wife. I am a pro photographer and often shoot in B&W. Mr Salgado and his wonderful wife are both aspiring individuals and in my mind, Sebastiao is what a photographer should be, a relentless and conscientious person delivering the truth to his fellow human beings. They both have been encouraging individuals that have influenced my work and my view towards our fragile planet to a great depth. He is truly a remarkable photographer and a caring activist. Our planet is in desperate need of more people like this husband and wife team, simple. Thank you.

wim wenders and juliano salgado accomplish a difficult task in capturing deep outlines of juliano's dad, sebastiao salgado, the great human being, photographer, and global humanitarian beyond my usual simple, largely uncomplicated volunteer efforts to ease the turmoil between humans, and between humans and all of natural life ... his black & white photography is stunningly beautiful and hauntingly real as for 40 years he circled the taking breathtaking photos of humans and the earth in deadly turmoil. salgado's photographs are not journalism, they are photographic, direct, compassionate art of the highest order capturing the realities of the recent half century.

He's a great photographer of his genre (reportage?) and in this Wenders film he comes across as a sensitive, genuine, kind eyed person, which is why he's such a good photographer presumably. He takes really beautiful photographs full of meaning and concern. He is not one of those awful pictorialists who just rattle off pretty pictures with no substance. Salgado's pictures of the mining site in South America and those later ones taken in Papua are quite monumental and epic,reminding me of Renaissance paintings. I can think of ten other photographer who I might personally prefer who might fall in the 'ART' genre. But he is not one of these and in any case that would amount to personal subjectivity. I am overwhelmed by admiration for this photographer as a visual reporter of usually not so nice things. One is left with a yearning to know of his subjects; 'where' are they now? Are they still alive? Don Mccullin and August Sander's subjects also provoke these questions whilst many other photographers miss it by miles.

Fantastic movie. Great for photography enthusiasts and even those not interested in photography. For myself, it was incredibly inspirational, and re-ignited my interest in photography. Being introduced to Sebastião Salgado's work, I went and bought a book collection of his photographs.The movie is a wonderful story of Sebastião Salgado's life and work. His photos are delicately and appropriately incorporated into the film and the story. Wonderful cinematography. Amazing insight into some of the history.I bought this for myself, but later showed it to my parents and my brother, all of whom loved it.

Inspirational! The images are a call for us to reflect on the human condition and offer the possibility of compassion arising in us.Motivates me to strengthen my efforts to promote harmony in this world!Everyone should see this! Any discomfort it may cause in the viewer is an opportunity to reflect and change how we behave in order to reduce suffering in this world!

If you have any interest in B&W photography you will enjoy this documentary.The film itself gives the briefest insight into the photographer himself. It spans a period of about 30 years,as he chooses different subjects for his work. The dedication to obtain some of these pictures is quite amazing. On some of his projects it can span 10 years.This film also has the bonus of a little side story that comes through at the end. This also shows what a great deal of dedication and perseverance (including a lot of hard work) can achieve. A 1st class documentary.

Beautiful and powerful. Knowing Sebastiao Salgado’s work since I was young in Brazil and been able to see how reginised he’s for his amazing social artistic work I feel really proud. Beautiful documentary that will move you to tears but also hope.

it's a personal opinion but of all the photographers I've come across in my 70+ years the only other one that comes near him is Werner Bischof. In other fields Melvin Sokolsky shines above all others in fashion photography and Gunter Ziesler in wildlife. They are well worth checking out if your into photography, not just for their images but there outlook.

Anyone who has delved into portrait photography will be familiar with Salgado's work, but it's especially interesting to hear the man speak about his own images, telling the stories behind some of his most striking and heart wrenching photos that we are already familiar with. A beautiful, sensitive and intelligent man whose compassion for the human condition is as endearing as his work. I originally rented this title but decided I needed to own it, as it's definitely worth multiple viewings. A must have for any lover of photography, as well as anyone with an interest in the work of organisations like Doctors Without Borders.

This a journey with the one of the greatest living photographers, that is Sebastião Salgado, on photography, life and the world we live in. This is not a film about photography but of the photographer Salgado, his vision and someone who cares about the world we live in and the peoples who populate it. The images are of course stunning but this film is more than that, much more. Find two hours, make a drink, shut the door and take that journey.

A beautifully filmed documentary by talented Wim Wenders.His admiration for Salgado, the man and the artist, is evident in this haunting testimony to his friend's lifelong work. Salgado's photography is impressive, masterly; his relentless focus on times and places of crisis presents us with a sombre record of man's savagery to man. But this is also a story of hope, a gem of a film that, like a magic carpet flies you over fields of anarchy and despondence, but finally returns you to a world of possibility and lands you gently in a place where man still has the potential to work miracles.

There is a sense of traveling through the darkness of what the photographer has witnessed to a point of depletion and despair. What happens next is so unexpected, unique and life affirming...this is a truly inspirational documentary.

A brilliantly-directed and edited film of the work of the great humanitarian photographer Salgado. There is throughout an extraordinary, and moving, tension between the aesthetic beauty of Salgado's images and their painful, indeed sometimes horrifying, recording of the fruits of war, oppression and destruction. The film ends with an astonishing and deeply moving celebration of the restoration of a whole natural environment, blighted by expoitation and climate change, by Salgado and his wife.

Superb, although desperately sad at times. A man with incredible perception and incredible humanity. Parts of the documentary are very hard to watch, especially the part about Rwanda. I don’t think I would let my 12 year old watch, despite the age rating.

Salgado is a hero- and the best landscape photographer of all time in my opinion. This film also shows his wife and he saving the environment by planting trees to create a bio-diverse mountain region which they gave to the state.

One of the most remarkable achievements. It was such a joy to see how Sebastiao Salgado was able to turn his life around completely and use his own pain as a motivation to create something beautiful in the world. A true hero's journey.

This is a beautifully made film that charts Sebastiao Salgado's life through his photography. He brings you face to face with humanity in all its forms. From the horrors of war zones and refugee camps through to village life in South America. He finds the spark of humanity in all of his work. I recommend that you watch this and see where it touches you.