The Art of Advocacy: Sebastião Salgado
Posted by Kit Richert — 11 May 2009
Yesterday, after Mother's Day brunch, Mom mentioned that she wanted to go to the opening day of the new Brower Center in downtown Berkeley (CA), in part to see an exhibition by one of her favorite photographers, Sebastião Salgado. I hadn't heard of him, or the new center. I had no idea what I was in for.
For all who love architecture, Berkeley's new Brower Center is itself a work of art. It is 50,000 square feet of advanced green architecture, engineering, and materials. The purpose of the space is equally marvelous. Named after David Brower, who some consider to be the father of the modern environmental movement, the center offers affordable green office spaces exclusively to nonprofits, along with a variety of meeting spaces, galleries, and screening rooms for community events.
The street-level gallery at the Brower Center is dedicated to the theme, Art of Advocacy; art that advocates for nature and society in the Brower tradition. The choice artist for their inaugural exhibition was more than appropriate, the Brazilian photojournalist-activist, Sebastião Salgado.
Salgado's black and white documentary photography focuses on images of laborers, refugees, industry, and the natural world. The selections at the Brower exhibition pull from several of his large, long term photo documentary projects: Other Americas, Sahel, the End of the Road, Workers, Migrations, and Africa, along with some recent works.
I was not familiar with the work of Salgado, but the exhibition showcased some of the most beautiful and meaningful photographs I have seen. I was perhaps most struck by his images of rural workers from around the world. For me, Salgado's portrayal of laborers was striking in that his photographs were thoughtful, yet objective, and drew out the beauty of the natural elements in each work sight. One of my favorite images in the exhibit, Firefighters at Work (shown below), exemplifies these attributes.
For all who can make it, Salgado himself will be discussing this exhibit this week, Thursday, May 14, at the Brower Center. I highly recommend this event to all Bay Area JPGgers! The exhibition itself will be on display throughout 2009. Mom is going, I will be at NYPH!
Inaugural Exhibition
The Art of Advocacy
Opening Reception with Sebastião Salgado
Thursday, May 14
6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
2150 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA 94704
©2000 Sebastião Salgado
Firefighters at Work
Sabotaged Oil Wells in Kuwait,
1991
