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The Hindu
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Sebastião Salgado: A life in images
In June 2022, I arrived in Paris for a conference. I landed a few days early and indulged in the usual delights — eating, walking, and visiting museums. A friend who lived and worked in the city was immensely generous in his hospitality and offered to show me around. One day, as I stepped out of the metro station, my attention was drawn to a bamboo structure in the middle of a fairly large public square, surrounded by towering buildings. The square was alive with activity — employees leaving work, travellers entering or exiting the metro station, families out for a stroll, and immigrants selling Paris-themed merchandise. The bamboo structure was an anomaly. When I went closer, I saw the name Sebastião Salgado written in bold. My questions were partially answered and I slowly realised where I had accidentally arrived. I had almost forgotten that Paris was, after all, Salgado's city, a place he called home after leaving Brazil in 1969 in protest against the military dictatorship. Economist turned photographer Born on February 8, 1944, in Aimorés, Salgado earned a Ph.D in economics in Paris before becoming a full-time photographer. Celebrated for his black-and-white images of humanity and nature, he died of leukaemia in Paris on May 23, 2025, at the age of 81. He developed the illness after contracting a particular type of malaria in 2010. Salgado is survived by his wife, Lélia, their two sons, Juliano and Rodrigo, and two grandchildren, Flavio and Nara. The story goes that Lélia gifted him his first camera. Salgado would later say that photography gradually 'invaded'' his life, eventually leading him to end his career in economics. I was thrilled at the chance to see Salgado's work up close. Until then, like many of his admirers in India, I had only seen his photographs in books or digital reproductions. In Paris, museum visits and exhibitions are usually booked months in advance. But here I was in the middle of nowhere, watching the work of one of the most well-known photographers in the world without any prior planning. Anybody who was interested could walk in. There were no long queues, just an entry ticket. It felt like a powerful example of art reaching out to people beyond the confines of elite institutions. And this is something that Salgado believed in. Documenting nature and humanity Lest we forget, it was his frequent trips to Africa and Latin America during his stint as an economist at the International Coffee Organisation in London that turned him into a full-time photographer. He began photo-documenting coffee production in Africa and Latin America, and this made him leave his job, and become a freelance photographer with the photo agency, Sygma. Social documentary was at the core of his practice. His largely black-and-white photographs captured a wide range of issues: economic adversities, the impact of climate change on mankind, shrinking natural habitats, among other socio-economic challenges plaguing the world. Critics often accused him of 'aestheticising misery'. In an interview with The Guardian last year, he said, 'Why should the poor world be uglier than the rich world?... I came from the third world... The pictures I took, I took from my side, from my world, from where I come.' As I moved through the exhibition, the intention behind its design and curation became increasingly clear. The bamboo structure housing Salgado's photographs had been designed by Colombian architects Simón Vélez and Stefana Simic, both renowned for their work in sustainable architecture. The exhibition itself was curated and designed by Salgado's wife and long-time collaborator, Lélia. Timeless monochromes The central theme of the exhibition was water. As with his previous work, all the photographs were in black and white. This aesthetic echoed his other major projects, including his Amazon series and the large-scale reforestation initiative in Brazil, where he and Lélia oversaw the planting of more than 2.5 million trees on degraded land. And there are many more — Workers (a series on manual labour), Migrations (on people displaced by socio-economic and environmental factors), Other Americas (lives of peasants in Latin America) and his photographs of gold mine workers in Brazil. Here was an artist who was a tireless commentator and documentarian. The Salt of the Earth (2014), a biographical documentary directed by Wim Wenders and Salgado's son, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, offers a beautiful portrait of the artist and his work. The pavilion built to exhibit Salgado's work was directly conversant with the photographs on display, evoking the need for ecological balance and preservation. There were photos from across the globe, with water as the central metaphor. India was prominently represented too, with scenes from Mumbai, Varanasi, Kolkata, and parts of Rajasthan. Standing there, surrounded by these powerful images in the heart of a foreign city, felt like a profoundly special moment. I returned to the exhibition several times, lingering before each photograph to take in the intricate details — the people, the ecosystems, and the habitats that Salgado had so meticulously documented. His deep humanism radiated through every frame. With Salgado's passing, the world has lost a great chronicler of our turbulent times. The truest tribute to his legacy is to embrace his message — one of compassion, conservation, and co-existence. The writer is a critic and cultural commentator, and teaches at FLAME University, Pune.
Forbes
28-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Britney Spears Earns Her First New Album Debut In Almost A Decade
Britney Spears's Oops!... I Did It Again returns thanks to a twenty-fifth anniversary edition, ... More debuting at No. 41 on the Official Album Downloads chart. The singer performing on stage at Paris Zenith. (Photo by Jeremy Bembaron/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images) A quarter-century ago, Britney Spears changed pop music forever when she released her album Oops!... I Did It Again. The full-length proved she was a true force to be reckoned with in the top 40 space, and it signaled that she would be sticking around for quite a while. The singer's sophomore set produced some of her most familiar tunes – including the title track – and fans still love everything about it to this day. The set is a bestseller again in the United Kingdom, and this week, it appears on multiple charts… and even manages to earn Spears her first new placement on one list in almost a decade. Oops!... I Did It Again debuts on this week's Official Album Downloads chart, which ranks the top downloaded full-lengths and EPs across the country on platforms like iTunes, Amazon, and others. Spears's set opens at No. 41, narrowly missing out on becoming a top 40 bestseller. Amazingly, this frame marks the first time Oops!... I Did It Again has appeared on this ranking. When the project was first released, streaming didn't exist, so there weren't separate rankings for sales and general consumption when it came to songs or albums. That means older efforts, like Oops!... I Did It Again, sometimes debut on tallies such as this one well after their heyday. Spears earns her career eighth appearance on the Official Album Downloads chart this week. Oops!... I Did It Again brings the singer her first win on the list since September 2016. Just under a decade ago, Glory debuted that month and rose to No. 4, spending just three weeks somewhere on the tally. As it debuts on the Official Album Downloads chart, Oops!... I Did It Again also manages to return to the Official Albums Sales list, though it's not new to that ranking. In fact, the title has now spent three frames on the roster. It launched in 2020 and last appeared on the tally — which looks at all forms of purchases in the country — in April 2023, when it reached its all-time peak of No. 52. To celebrate Oops!... I Did It Again turning 25, Spears released a special anniversary edition of the album on May 16. The project, available digitally as well as on collectible vinyl, included multiple alternative recordings and remixes, expanding the set considerably.
New European
27-05-2025
- General
- New European
Sebastião Salgado, Brazil's poet of dignity and decay
The 81-year-old was an economist who became an extraordinary photographer, who then became a powerful force for environmental regeneration. Instituto Terra led the reforestation of 17,000 acres of land in Brazil, planting more than three million trees so far. 'We can rebuild the planet that we destroyed, and we must,' Salgado once said. It is work that will continue under his partner, Lélia Deluiz Wanick Salgado, and their two sons. 'He sowed hope where there was devastation.' That was part of the message from Instituto Terra, the Brazilian non-profit conservation charity, last week announcing the death of its co-founder, the great Sebastião Salgado. Shrouded against the morning wind, refugees wait in the Korem camp, Ethiopia, 1984 The Brooks Range, Alaska, June and July 2009 Chinstrap penguins in the South Sandwich Islands, 2009 Photos: Sebastião Salgado/nbpictures The programme was financed by Salgado's photography, his trademark black and white images that appear to be lit by God. They explore mankind's deep connection to places being ripped apart by the 'progress' of industry. Perhaps most famous are his almost biblical shots of scores of workers toiling like ants in the Serra Pelada goldmine. His speciality, he said, was 'the dignity of humanity'. Salgado was a 29-year-old working in the coffee industry when Lélia bought a camera in 1971. Within weeks, he had one of his own, then a darkroom, then work as a freelance news photographer. He progressed to become a staff photographer at the industry's most celebrated agencies – including Sygma and Magnum – before branching out with Lélia on large-scale documentary projects of their own. Subjects included disappearing wildlife, displaced people fleeing war and climate catastrophe, Kuwaiti oil fires, and tribes from the Amazon to the Arctic. Around 50,000 men work in the opencast Serra Pelada goldmine in the state of Pará in Brazil, 1986 Sebastião Salgado in 2023 Photos: Sebastião Salgado/nbpictures; Francesco Prandoni/Getty Salgado was proud of forging close relationships with the people he photographed, claiming that the success of the Serra Pelgada photos – which caused a sensation when published by the Sunday Times in the late 1980s – was because 'I know every one of those miners, I've lived among them. They are all my friends.' His quest for the real came at a cost; he died of leukaemia, his bone marrow function having been badly damaged by malaria contracted on a work trip to New Guinea in 2010. Yet his beautiful images of people in extremis saw Salgado called by some a hypocritical exploiter. A 1980s campaign for Silk Cut cigarettes, in which tribesmen from Papua New Guinea carried the famous purple silk, proved particularly controversial. It was a charge Salgado rejected, telling the Guardian last year: 'They say I was an 'aesthete of misery' and tried to impose beauty on the poor world. But why should the poor world be uglier than the rich world? The light here is the same as there. The dignity here is the same as there.'
Extra.ie
25-05-2025
- Science
- Extra.ie
140,000 year old bones found under ocean hint at lost world
Bones that are thought to be more than 140,000 years old have been discovered buried in the sea off the Indonesian coast, hinting to a previously unknown population in South East Asia. The skull of Homo erectus was preserved under layers of silt and sand in the Madura Strait between the islands of Java and Madura. The skull bones were found among 6,000 animal fossils of 36 species including buffalos, deer, elephants and Komodo dragons. The skull of Homo erectus was preserved under layers of silt and sand in the Madura Strait between the islands of Java and Madura. Pic: Régis BOSSU/Sygma via Getty Images Experts say this is the first time evidence of life in the lost world has been seen. These lost lands were called Sundaland and were once connected to Southeast Asia in a vast tropical plain. Some of the bones and fossils discovered had deliberate marks on them, indicating that the early humans were practicing hunting strategies. The fossils were found by maritime sand miners in 2011, but experts have just managed to establish further details such as the age and species. Bones that are thought to be more than 140,000 years old have been discovered buried in the sea off the Indonesian coast, hinting to a previously unknown population in South East Asia. Pic: Getty Images Harold Berghuis, an archaeologist at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands led the investigation and says the period is characterized by 'great morphological diversity and mobility of hominin populations in the region.' Sundaland was submerged in water between 7,000 and 14,000 years ago after melting glaciers caused the sea levels to rise more than 120 meters. Following the discovery of 6,000 fossils and two human skull garments, scientists carried out detailed surveys where they collected and catalogued their findings to investigate. Homo erectus were the first early humans to resemble us more closely. They had taller, more muscular bodies with longer legs and shorter arms. Pic: Getty Images Researchers examined the layers where the fossils were discovered and came across a buried valley system from the ancient Solo River, which once flowed across the now-submerged Sunda Shelf. Homo erectus were the first early humans to resemble us more closely. They had taller, more muscular bodies with longer legs and shorter arms. The skulls discovered by researchers has been confirmed as Homo erectus following a comparison with known Homo erectus fossils from Java's Sumbungmacan site. Elsewhere, fossils of a large extinct mammal similar to modern elephants were found. The Stegoden is understood to reach up to 13 feet at the shoulder and weigh more than 10 tonnes. An array of different deer remains were also uncovered, including bones and teeth from different species.
Wales Online
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Wales Online
Movie fans are only just realising Christian Bale isn't actually American
Movie fans are only just realising Christian Bale isn't actually American Moviegoers shared their astonishment at realising the Pembrokeshire actor, famed for his convincing American accent on screen, is not actually from across the pond Christian Bale was born in Haverfordwest, but grew up in England (Image: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images ) Christian Bale is considered one of the most dedicated and intense method actors of his generation – a professional who not only plays his part but also becomes his part. Take for instance, the lengths he went to achieve his frighteningly emaciated look for playing machinist Trevor Reznik in 2005's The Machinist; or him going the opposite direction and packing on plenty of muscle to play Batman in Batman Begins that same year. And then of course, his adult breakout role as bloodthirsty yuppie madman Patrick Bateman in 2000's American Psycho. The latter role is most remembered not just for his bloodlust but for his convincing American accent – so much so that people actually believed he was really from the US when he played that role. That shock was all the more apparent in a Reddit forum which discussed Christian's roots and his fans were surprised to hear that the actor was not American, but in fact British. Christian was born in Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire in 1974, to parents Jenny James and David Bale. He was only two years old when the family left Wales to live a nomadic lifestyle in Portugal and Oxfordshire before settling down in Bournemouth. He played with an American accent in the 2000 thriller American Psycho (Image: Eric Robert/Sygma via Getty Images ) His accent has been the source of online debate for years, with Christian admitting in a 2019 interview with Sky News he enjoyed seeing the audience getting confused over his accent, while adding: "Yes, I was born in Wales but I don't think I've got any ring of Welsh in my accent at all." Article continues below That confusion was very much in full force in one Reddit group, named "In real life, Christian Bale is not actually an American Psycho. He is British." One fan shared their "shock" at hearing his real voice, saying: "Hearing him in Batman and this I'm so used to, and even though I know he's from the UK, hearing his normal voice shocks me." A second person added: "I'm not fluent in English so I learned very late that he was British. In fact I never seen him in a 'brit' movie like Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hardy or Idris Elba." A third commenter praised Christian's versatility in his acting roles, adding: "Doesn't help that Christian Bale has seriously good acting range and that most of his movies/characters are US based. I'd say the closest recent British Christian Bale would be his Ken Miles character in Ford vs Ferrari." As if the US vs UK discussions weren't enough, a secondary debate raged within that forum in which Brits were arguing over whether he is actually English or Welsh. One person simply said: "I thought he killed like a Welshman," while a second person added: "I think he's actually the Welsh psycho" and a third reacted by using an image with the word: "Welshie". Christian recently began building his foster care village in California (Image: Robin) The story behind Christian's decision to adopt an American lilt goes back to the 1990s when, after being catapulted to fame as a 13-year-old in the 1987 hit Empire Of The Sun, he struggled to get work using his normal accent. As a result, he pretended to be from across the pond. He told Sky News in 2019 that he "couldn't get any work in England, I don't know what it was about me but nobody would bloody hire me". Article continues below Christian moved to the US aged 17, but said the only roles he was being offered at the time were period roles "with floppy hair and stuff". He added: "Great, but that's not what I wanted to do for my whole life. That was all that kept coming my way, but it was work, and in England it was no work. And so I said I've really got to just be able to convince people I'm American." While in the US, his career has flourished over the decades and recently, he decided to take on a new role – building a foster care village in California so that young siblings are never separated from each other.
