Graduated as an economist, Sebastião Salgado began his career as a photographer in 1973 in Paris, working with the Sygma, Gamma and Magnum Photos photo agencies. Today, with Lélia Wanick Salgado, his life and work partner, he has his own structure.
He has travelled to more than 100 countries for his photographic projects, which, in addition to innumerous publications in the international press, have been presented in several books and exhibitions —conceived and designed by Lélia — such as "Sahel, l'homme en détresse", "Other Americas", "Workers", "Terra", "Exodus", "Africa", "Genesis", "Gold” and “Amazônia”.
He is a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts de France, Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, Doctor Honoris Causa of Harvard University (USA), and his major honours include the Primo Levi Prize (Italy), the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade and the Praemium Imperiale Prize of the Japan Art Association, considered to be the Nobel Prize of the Arts.
In 1998, he and Lélia set up Instituto Terra in Brazil, a non-profit civil organisation focusing on reforestation, environmental education and sustainable rural development in the Rio Doce valley, in the state of Minas Gerais. Today, Instituto Terra has created a forest rich in a variety of flora and fauna endemic to the Atlantic Forest, and has planted more than 3 million trees.
In 2021, the couple launched their latest project: a book, a concert and a major photographic exhibition on the Amazon rainforest and its indigenous communities, calling for the preservation of this biodiversity that is so important for the planet and for the protection of these threatened populations.