It is a great honor for me to be compared to Henri Cartier-BressonBut I believe there is a very big difference in the way we put ourselves inside the stories we photograph. He always strove for the decisive moment as being the most important. I always work for a group of pictures, to tell a story. If you ask which picture in a story I like most, it is impossible for me to tell you this. I don't work for an individual picture. If I must select one individual picture for a client, it is very difficult for me.
Sebastiao SalgadoWhat I want is to create a discussion about what is happening around the world and to provoke some debate with these pictures. Nothing more than this.
Sebastiao SalgadoI work alone. Humans are incredible, because when you come alone, they will receive you, they accept you, they protect you, they give you all things that you need, and they teach you all things you must know. When you come with two persons or three persons, you have a group in front of them. They don't discuss with the new persons what is important to them.
Sebastiao SalgadoI have been photographing the portrait of an end of an era, as machines and computers replace human workers. What we have in these pictures is an archeology.
Sebastiao Salgado