Salgado was born on February 8, 1944, in Aimorés in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. After a somewhat itinerant childhood, Salgado initially trained as an economist, earning a master’s degree in economics from the University of São Paulo in Brazil. He chose to abandon a career as an economist and switched to photography in 1973, working initially on news assignments before veering more towards documentary-type work.
Between 2004 and 2011, Salgado worked on Genesis, aiming at the presentation of the unblemished faces of nature and humanity. It consists of a series of photographs of landscapes and wildlife, as well as of human communities that continue to live in accordance with their ancestral traditions and cultures.
Salgado’s work focuses on photojournalism which is a particular form of journalism that employs images in order to tell a news story.
This image is of the Gold mine of Serra Pelada, State of Pará, Brazil, 1986. This image is so emotionally strong because it perpetuates the poverty and pain others suffer which often goes unnoticed, which is what Salgado is trying to highlight.
On an analytical level, Salgado has used a shallow depth of field to capture the varied tonal values on the man, which allows the viewer to see the mud on him, which highlights his suffering as he may not even have access to a shower which Westerners see as standard and often take for granted.
The framing of this shot allows you to see the people in the background who are so small, which portrays how their troubles are not recognised as much as they should be.
For this shoot, I want to base it the most crucial event in decades, Covid-19. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus.
Most people who fall sick with COVID-19 will experience mild to moderate symptoms and recover without special treatment. The virus that causes COVID-19 is mainly transmitted through droplets generated when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or exhales. These droplets are too heavy to hang in the air and quickly fall on floors or surfaces. You can be infected by breathing in the virus if you are within close proximity of someone who has COVID-19, or by touching a contaminated surface and then your eyes, nose or mouth.
To photograph the theme of coronavirus, I am going to try and portray the suffering people are going through during this time. Whether its the pressure from the news, reach for help due to lost one or insanity from isolation and lack of external interaction. To accomplish this I am going to use multiple skills I have developed such as long exposure and sequence photography. I am also going to take some portraits because I can then portray the emotion in and desperation. For this shoot, my dad will be the model because I have taken lots of photos of my sister already.
[SHOOT PLAN]
[1/160, F8]
This photo is of my dad in the garden. To get this image I had to take all the furniture outside and then experiment with the best angle to take the shot at. This photography shows the insanity many people may be going through during these unprecedented times.
I really like the composition of this shot because if I took it straight on I don’t think it would be as pleasing on the eye, but because of the file and the slightly increase contrast in photoshop it is quite an aesthetic shot. I don’t like the fact that the fencing on the left of the compositor isn’t straight, because of the recent rain and winds in Dubai, because it offsets the overall aesthetic of the shot,
[1/100, F5]
This image is of my dad’s hand. To take this photo I had my dad lie on the ground and stick his hand up and I then positioned the flashlight on my phone to make the gradient from the bottom flow into his hand from the shadows.
I think this photo is a portrayal of the desperation some people may be facing with the loss of love ones and the hand shows they are in need of aid and someone picking them up.
I am pleased with the lighting in this shot as it creates a mysterious mood, and even though the frame has quite a lot of negative space it puts the complete focus on the subject matter and could represent the isolation of people at the moment. To improve this shot I could have added a smokey overlay to make the image even more mysterious, which I may experiment with later.
[1/60, F4.5]
This photograph is a portrait of my dad with a newspaper covering his face. To take this shot I had to use glue to stick the newspaper on my dad’s face, I struggled to get it on in some places because of his beard.
This shot highlights how the news is becoming such a prominent part of people lives during the coronavirus outbreak and absorbing them. I am happy with the lighting of this shot because one side is light and one is dark, which conveys how during these times families are able to reconnect which is a benefit, however, thousands of people are dying a day and people are financial suffering.
To improve this image I could reduce the noise by having a lower iso and slightly brighter setup whilst shooting
[1/60, F5]
This photo is of my dad doing numerous activities all in the garden, such as eating and working.
To make this image I had to move lots of furniture outside and then position it to fill the frame appropriately. I had to keep going up and downstairs to check that it looked good through the camera. This photo is more light-hearted than the others and shows how during these times many people are during everything in one spot as previously they would work at an office, have lunch at a cafe and then sunbathe at the beach, but now they have to do everything in one location.
For this shot, it was crucial that the tripod didn’t move because it would mess up the editing process because the images wouldn’t overlap.
To improve this photograph I could have moved the table and chairs to the right more to get them fully in the frame and not half chopped off.
[1/60, F4.5]
This shot is of my dad getting stressed about the news with it as the background.
To capture this shot I had to stick the newspaper to the wall and on the desk. This photo conveys how the news is stressing people so much they are in fear and can not cope.
I like the composition of this shot as my dad is centred, which I did have to tweak in Photoshop.
For this image, I used a shallow depth of field to capture the tonal values only dads skin and clothing to make the image more dynamic.
To improve this shot I think I could have been more selective on the background and selected newspaper that only reference coronavirus because some of them are irrelevant to the shot such as the “buzzfeed” newspaper which ruins the intended tone of the shot.
[13, F3.5]
This photograph is a portrait of my dad with my sister’s hands strangling him.
For this image I had my dad wear a black shirt to merge in with the background, I also had my sister hide behind him so that she could make the hand actions whilst I used the long exposure setting to capture it.
I think that my sister’s hand in this image could also be interpreted as my dad’s inner thoughts had how during this outbreak he and many others are going to be majorly stressed.
I am pleased with how symmetrical this shot is because it brings more aesthetic value to the image.
To make this image more aesthetically pleasing I could have edited my sister’s finger on the left of the composition and reduced the opacity of it. This occurred because she left her finger there too long thus it became more prominent due to the long exposure.
[1/30, F3.5]
This photograph is of my dad reading a newspaper that is on fire,
For this image, I had my mum light the newspaper in the middle and then once it lit, I just took as many photos as possible in the hope some of them looked good and the fire was somewhat symmetrical.
This shot portrays how aggressive the news can be hence the flames and how it is the fuel to fear just as it is the fuel to the flames this shot.
I am happy with the framing of this shot because my father is right in the centre which makes it more aesthetically pleasing on the eye and also relates to the rule of thirds.
To improve this shot I could have edited some flames on the left newspaper to make it more symmetrical.
[EXPERIMENTAL]
The image above is a reflection of my dad reading the newspaper. For this shot, I added a smokey overlay to enhance the mysterious tone.
For the shot below I added a border made from a collage of newspapers and added a sepia overlay.
[LONG EXPOSURE EXPERIMENTAL]
For these images, I had my dad in a dark room and I would use the flashlight on my phone to provide some source of lighting. He would then shake his head to create the motion blur.
These photos portray the insanity some people may be facing during these times, because of stress or other factors.
