6. The Salt of the Earth (2014)
“We are a ferocious animal. We humans are terrible animals. Our history is a history of wars. It’s an endless story, a tale of madness.” – Sebastiao Salgado
Sebastião Salgado has spent his career documenting human suffering. He would traverse the world, using his hauntingly expressive photographs to expose the harsh existence of his fellow humans. This monumental documentary begins with some incredible black-and-white pictures of gold miners at work in Serro Pelada, Brazil. There were hundreds of men, sweating and covered in dirt and grime.
With a single flash of his camera, Salgado snatches a momentary insight into the humanity of his subjects. He began working as a professional photographer in 1973 and since then, he has been telling the stories of our planet’s most vulnerable people and places. In 1984, he photographed the famine in Ethiopia; in 1991, the bitter conclusion of the first Gulf War in Iraq; and in 1994, the genocide in Rwanda.
Courtesy of Decia Films
