SEBASTIÃO SALGADO: Solo Exhibition

April 25 - May 25, 2013

Opening Reception: Thursday, April 25, 6 – 8 PM

Nicholas Metivier Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition with internationally renowned documentary photographer, Sebastião Salgado. This will be Salgado’s first exhibition in Canada and coincides with the world premiere of his Genesis project opening at the Natural History Museum in London, and traveling to Toronto, Rio de Janeiro, Rome and Paris. The exhibition will open on April 25 and will be on view through May 25 with an opening reception on Thursday, April 25 from 6– 8 PM.

Born in Brazil in 1944, Salgado has worked in the medium of photography since 1973, covering major news events as well as pursuing more personal and in-depth documentary projects. He has traveled to over 100 countries for his photographic essays including some of the most remote places on earth. Salgado refers to his style as “inside the circle” often living with his subjects for weeks and becoming immersed in their environments. Working in black and white, Salgado’s images are rendered with honesty and always infused with empathy and respect for the people, wildlife and nature he encounters.

This exhibition will include images from several of Salgado’s photographic essays including WorkersMigrations and his largest and most recent project to date, Genesis. The culmination of 8 years’ work, Genesis draws together images of landscapes, wildlife and depictions of human communities that continue to live in accordance with their ancestral traditions and cultures. Salgado traveled to 32 different countries for this project, seeking out “nature’s unspoiled legacy”.

So many times I’ve photographed stories that show the degradation of the planet, I thought the only way to give us an incentive, to bring hope, is to show the pictures of the pristine planet – to see the innocence. And then we can understand what we must preserve.

- Sebastião Salgado


Salgado has been the recipient of numerous photographic prizes in recognition of his accomplishments, most recently receiving the Gold Medal Award for Photography from the National Arts Club in New York. 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.