Review of The Salt of the Earth (2014) by Alberto A — 21 Feb 2016

Would you like to experience the immense power of a single image? But really, would you like to experience all the layers of emotions that are conjoined with the story that lies through the lens of a camera and beyond the two-dimensional composition of hundreds of pictures? Well, The Salt of the Earth is the film for you.

Both working as an invigorating homage to Sebastião Salgado, a Brazilian photographer (ehmâ?¦an actual, real photographerâ?¦with guts), and working as a socio-political critique to the human race, The Salt of the Earth takes us through the lifeâ??s work of Salgado as he traveled and documented the savagery and misery that some forsaken corners of the world suffer from.

From the depths of East Africa to the holes of South America, and from the Rwandan Genocide to the one in Bosnia, this documentary film directed by Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado (Sebastiãoâ??s son) is essentially about 80% a slideshow of pictures, or rather, works of art, taken by Salgado during his journey across the troubled places of the world. He walks us through them and provides the story behind his photographs. And let me tell you, it is quite heartbreaking. You want to look away for most of the time because these pictures contain, beyond their individual story, a polemic paradox: how can a sad and wretched story be framed in such a beautiful way (aesthetically speaking)? Also, how can situations as horrendous as the ones depicted in some of Salgadoâ??s pictures exist in this world? Arenâ??t us, humans, supposed to be the smartest of them all, the brightest of the bunch? Yes, we can build things, cure people from diseases, make technological innovations and this and that. Thatâ??s great. However, when is someone going to find an antidote for warmongering, thirst of power and violence, and megalomania, which are figuratively encrypted in our DNA?

These are all questions and reflections that emerge from Salgadoâ??s beautiful work and his addiction to the world, its people, and its places. Through photography, Salgado juxtaposed how beautiful the world is with the atrocities humans have done with it and its inhabitants. Because the world is beautiful naturally speaking, but as the â??terrible animalsâ?? that we are, as Salgado accurately remarked, we are in the process of destroying everything that is good about it. Governments, power, politics, money, economics, corruption, war, weaponry, and the core concept of what some nations stand for, are destroying the world little by little.

Even with all the atrocities his retina had the misfortune of receiving, Salgado still holds a little bit of hope for the world. In my case, Iâ??m less optimistic, however I do think art can make a difference. Photographs like the ones taken by Salgado can make a difference. Films can make a difference. Films like The Salt of the Earth can make a difference. It might just take a while. My compliments to Sebatião Salgado, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, and Wim Wenders, who are real Citizens of the World.