Sebastião Salgado in Sahel
Critical Discourse in contemporary photography
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-58442026129Keywords:
Photography; Critical Humanist Discourse; Sebastião Salgado.Abstract
Photographic images have their own language and can convey narratives and discourses. Based on this principle, this article aims to improve understanding of photographic language by presenting analyses and reflections on how certain photographs express beliefs and values associated with Critical Humanist Discourse, as defined in this article. First, the main characteristics of this discourse were defined. Then, ten images from Sebastião Salgado's 1986 book Sahel: The End of the Road were analyzed to confirm whether they can be classified as belonging to this discourse. In this text, we present a thorough analysis of one of the selected images — the one that best exemplifies how photography can express the beliefs and values associated with Critical Humanist Discourse.
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Todos os dados analisados durante este estudo estão incluídos neste
artigo publicado (e em suas informações de suporte). As imagens
originais utilizadas na análise são de propriedade de seus respectivos
detentores de direitos autorais e agências de licenciamento
(Contrasto / Amazonas Images / Christie’s). Os links e códigos de
identificação para localização das obras nos arquivos oficiais foram
fornecidos no corpo do texto.
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Copyright (c) 2026 André Melo Mendes
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