Sebastião Salgado Exhibit In Salt Lake City

Make sure you take the opportunity to see the Sebastião Salgado Photography Exhibit at The Leonardo at Library Square, an art, culture and science center being developed in the former main library building in downtown Salt Lake City.

Brazilian-born Salgado is widely considered the most important documentary photographer working today. He has covered such events as wars in Angola and the Spanish Sahara, the taking of Israeli hostages in Entebbe, and the attempted assassination of President Ronald Regan. From 1984 until 1986, he worked alongside Doctors Without Boarders to document the African Famine. Salgado has been awarded virtually every major photographic prize including the W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography, and was twice named Photographer of the Year by the International Center of Photography. He is currently a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and an honorary member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in the United States.

The Exhibit called “Exodus” (also called “Migrations”) is one of the largest and most important photography exhibits ever to come to the Intermountain Region. Since its debut, it has traveled to galleries throughout the world, including Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, Scuderie Papali al Quirinale in Rome, and United Nations Hall and International Center of Photography in New York City. Salgado and his photographs have also been featured in recent issues of both Rolling Stone magazine and The New Yorker.

“Exodus” tells the story of the unprecedented displacement of millions of people at the close of the 20th century due to war, natural disasters, environmental degradation, and the widening gap between rich and poor. Salgado worked for six years in 40 countries photographing men, women and children on the road, in refugee camps and in city slums. His photographs capture their dignity, courage and entrepreneurial spirit, while at the same time conveying a larger picture of the massive social and political transformations taking place in a world increasingly polarized by excess and want.