The Salt of the Earth – Review

In a career spanning across the last four decades, photographer Sebastião Salgado has travelled to every corner of the world, documenting the human psyche, from the beautiful to the barbaric. Having experienced such tragedy and devastation first hand, such as war, genocide and poverty: capturing subtle, significant moments with his lens, he’s now focusing more on the serene aspects of the world we’ve inhabited, away from the flaws of humanity and focusing instead of the blissful innocence of nature. His very own son Juliano Ribeiro Salgado has teamed up with the venerable auteur Wim Wenders to document his father’s remarkable life, and his breathtaking portfolio of work.

Nobody understands these photographs quite like Sebastião Salgado, and it’s through his talking-head interviews where this piece comes into its element, as he offers his own interpretation, and a vital sense of context, providing anecdotes that enrich and embellish particular images. To help bring it to life, Wenders’ narration is key too, as similarly to the likes of Werner Herzog, there’s a certain poetic eloquence about his words. The film is not afraid to shy away from the subject’s flaws either, as this personal, candid exploration delves into the fractured relationship between the photographer and his son, as a result of him never truly being at home because of his dedication to his work. We paint a comprehensive picture of his life, and this allows for us to understand his photographs even more so, as we feel as though we know where they’ve come from.

The balance works incredibly well to have a renowned storyteller on board in the form of Wenders, combined with the intimate offerings that Juliano Ribeiro Salgado can provide, as between them we have a film that is not only moving and personal, but has a certain linearity to it also. We begin with the less positive side of mankind, watching on as various men struggle desperately to get their hands on some gold. From here, we then proceed back to basics, studying tribes who live a somewhat more simplistic life, away from the materialism and greed. From here we move towards death and disease, uplifting in parts, savage in others – and in this case, we tend to revel predominantly in the latter.

What transpires in this on-screen exhibition is an ineffably upsetting piece, that casts an eye over the nefarious side to humanity through a series of heartbreaking images. This is a challenging experience for any viewer – but, and as proven in the fact this received an Oscar nomination for it’s efforts, it’s undoubtedly a rewarding one too.