Sebastião Salgado's new Barcelona exhibition dives into the Amazon rainforest

Showcased in Barcelona in Drassanes Reials from December 4 to April 20, the exhibition 'Amazonia' derives from 9 years of work of the Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado. 

From large works of Amazon biodiversity to portraits of indigenous peoples, this exhibition has more than 200 photographs and seven films that will take visitors to the heart of Amazonia. 

The renowned Brazilian photographer's intention was to highlight the grandeur of the Amazon forest, through large photographs that show the various landscapes in vivid detail.  

Surprised by the "dimensions" of the Amazon, Salgado aimed at reproducing a sense of "colossal space" through his photographs. 

This immersive experience also includes a soundtrack composed by French composer Jean-Michel Jarre, inspired by sounds of the Amazon, which accompanies visitors throughout. 

Designed by Salgado with his wife, Leila Wanick, the exhibition describes the diversity of the different indigenous peoples and their traditions, and recounts his travels immersed with them. 

Salgado focused on getting to know the different indigenous peoples and realized how similar he was to them: "What was essential for me, was essential for them and you can say that in these people I could also find myself," he said in an interview with the Catalan News Agency (ACN). 

Protecting the ecosystem 

For Sebastião Salgado, consumerism is destroying the Amazon forest. "We wanted to present the Amazon we have to protect, not the 17% we have already lost," he said.  

The exhibition highlights the resources and the beauty of the ecosystem that needs to be protected from human exploitation. The Amazon has "the biggest concentration of water on the planet" and "the world depends on it," he added.  

Salgado also hopes that this exhibition contributes to helping the "indigenous and ecological movement" in protecting the Amazon, emphasizing the danger that the trade agreement between the EU and the Mercosur countries could represent for Amazonia.  

The photographer urges visitors to take action, to put pressure on decision-makers so they don't harm the ecosystem further: "We want people leaving this exhibition to be different from those who enter, with enough information to help us protect this ecosystem that we are losing," he said.