Sebastião Salgado (1944-2025)
The Alte Oper mourns the loss of Sebastião Salgado.
The Alte Oper in Frankfurt mourns the loss of Sebastião Salgado, who passed away in Paris on 23 May 2025 at the age of 81.
Just last September, the Alte Oper organised a multi-day festival dedicated to the world-famous Brazilian photographer and Peace Prize winner, focusing not only on his fascinating visual worlds, but also on his commitment to the environment. Salgado himself was present for three days, delivering charismatic presentations that left a lasting impression on the audience with his urgent calls to preserve the beauty of our planet, just as memorable as the impressive black-and-white images of the Brazilian rainforest. His passion, drive and tireless pursuit of his projects were particularly evident on the evening of the festival, when Wim Wenders' award-winning documentary film 'The Salt of the Earth' about the photographer was shown. The film's close-ups illuminated Salgado's character, and the subsequent panel discussion further revealed him as a passionate activist who was modest yet persistent in his cause. The deep connection Salgado had to the Amazon region is what will be remembered from this evening. How shaken he was by the state of the rainforest. And how he and his wife, Lélia Wanick Salgado, started with their own backyard, so to speak, by turning his father's farm in Brazil into the starting point for a gigantic environmental initiative. Their ‘Instituto Terra’, founded in 1998, has changed the world: Thanks to their commitment, more than four million seedlings have been planted and 68 million square metres of forest have been created, with positive effects not only for the rainforest region but also for the global climate.
It was only last September that Sebastião Salgado's work, including his photography, was inextricably linked to this environmental and socio-political commitment. This was also evident when the Börsenverein awarded the photographer the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade here in Frankfurt in October 2019 - in recognition of his commitment to nature and climate protection, social justice and peace. "To build a different future, we need to understand the present. My photos show this present, and as painful as the sight is, we must not look away," said Sebastião Salgado in his acceptance speech.
Director Dr Markus Fein is grateful for the encounter with the photographer: "The three days with Sebastião Salgado opened up new worlds for us, and not just because of the magnificent images from the Brazilian rainforest. The memory of a quiet man with shining eyes who showed us so impressively what the commitment of one individual can achieve will remain with us. The fact that we at the Alte Oper have stopped giving flowers to performing artists since the current season and instead donated the money to Salgado's environmental initiative “Instituto Terra” is just one small echo of this formative encounter with an important voice of our time. And so, for us, the memory of Sebastião Salgado is combined with the mission to continue to work for the preservation of our beautiful and precious planet. My condolences go out to the photographer's family, especially Lélia Wanick Salgado, whose work is inextricably linked to her husband's life's work."