Planting Hope: A Portrait of Photographer Sebastião Salgado

The creators focus on a Brazilian photographer’s path to environmentalism in this empathic profile of Sebastião Salgado (b. 1944). Opening remarks emphasize Salgado’s youthful connection to the outdoors: “He swam with the/ caimans and played/ under a waterfall.” Later discovering the power of a camera to “organize how the world fit together,” the figure begins traveling the world as a photographer (“Click! Beauty! Click! Presidents! Click! Wars!”). After witnessing civil war in Rwanda and putting down his camera, Salgado returns to Brazil and finds the land in ruins. When he and his partner undertake a massive reforestation project, it catalyzes his return to photography, this time with the aim of inspiring environmental preservation: “He photographed Indigenous peoples in the Amazon rainforest to show how humans continue to live in harmony with the planet.” Alarcão’s carefully shaded watercolor and pencil artwork is equally adept at presenting the person behind the camera and resultant images. The result is a rallying portrait of an artist and visual storyteller. An author’s note and resources conclude. Ages 6–9. (Mar.)