Remembering Sebastião Salgado

“We mark the sad passing of Sebastião Salgado, one of the world's greatest social documentary photographers. It was an extraordinary privilege to spend a few days with him when he visited Rwanda in 2004.

I had been building Virunga Lodge for several months in Rwanda - the first luxury lodge to be built near the gorilla park as tourism began to grow after the conflict.

Salgado came to stay at the then unfinished lodge, with Juan Pablo Morerias, a photographer with Fauna and Flora International who had been photographing gorillas in the Virunga volcanoes.

A quiet, reflective man, he composed his words precisely and elegantly, like his photographs; perhaps best symbolised by the stark images of the plight of miners at the Serra Palada goldmine in Brazil created some years previously. He recorded the life of the humans, often unseen or forgotten, eking out an existence in challenging circumstances, whether because of conflict or because of their daily struggle to survive.

Salgado had previously visited Rwanda in 1994, in the aftermath of the genocide against the Tutsi. The condition of the refugees had left him so anguished he had considered giving up photography. Instead it spurred him on to tackle new projects to document the plight of marginalised peoples, the environmental destruction of the world, the disappearance of wildlife and to rewild the family farm in Brazil. His return visit to Rwanda in 2004 gave him renewed hope that humans could learn from their experiences and work towards a more harmonious future. He was very supportive of our efforts to rebuild tourism at this critical stage in the country's history.

It was an unforgettable experience to share a few days with this quiet sage who spoke with searing insight on the responsibility privileged humans have for the planet, the plight of marginalised peoples, the environment and wildlife.” - Praveen Moman