Nicholas Metivier Gallery is pleased to present its second solo exhibition with renowned documentary photographer, Sebastião Salgado. A Fragile Beauty features a selection of photographs from Salgado’s acclaimed internationally touring series, Genesis. The exhibition will open on February 5 and will be on view through February 28 with an opening reception on Thursday, February 5 from 6– 8 PM.
In 2004, Salgado began shooting Genesis, his longest and most comprehensive photographic project to date. The series lasted eight years and involved expeditions to 32 different countries. Genesis marked a drastic change of course for Salgado. In his earlier projects, Workers (1993) and Migrations (2000), he captured the trials and tribulations of humanity and the damage incurred by nature in their wake. In Genesis, Salgado sought out the mountains, deserts, oceans, animals and peoples that have escaped the imprint of modern society, as a way of inspiring hope and encouraging the preservation of what is left of our ecological balance.
A Fragile Beauty brings together over twenty works from the Genesis project that depict wildlife, landscapes and seascapes in countries as diverse as Antarctica, Alaska, Russia, the United States, Africa, Patagonia, Ecuador, Brazil and Canada. To find nature in its pristine condition, Salgado was forced into remote areas, some of which had never been documented on film before. He travelled on foot, in boats, small planes and hot air balloons, through extreme cold and heat – whatever it took to capture his subjects from the most intimate and impressive vantage points available.
Salgado photographs in black and white, favouring a gelatin silver process. He records his subjects of humanity, wildlife and nature with a profound sense of empathy and respect and any additional ‘colour’ would only serve as a distraction. The gelatin silver prints give Salgado’s work a distinctively tactile quality, often appearing more like abstract drawings rendered with charcoal. Many of the works selected for this exhibition highlight this use of abstraction.
Born in Brazil in 1944, Salgado has been the recipient of numerous photographic prizes in recognition of his accomplishments, including the Gold Medal Award for Photography from the National Arts Club in New York. Several books have been published on Salgado’s work including Workers, Migrations and Genesis. Salgado was part of the well-known cooperative agency, Magnum Photos, for 15 years before founding his own agency, Amazonas images, in Paris with his wife Léila Wanick Salgado. Since 2013, Genesis has been touring to leading museums around the world including the British Museum, London, UK; International Centre of Photography, New York; Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris; Ara Pacis Museum, Rome and the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. A documentary film on the life and work of Salgado, The Salt of The Earth, debuted at the Cannes Film Festival and was internationally released in December 2014.
