Sebastião Salgado. Gold

This is an engrossing and absorbing piece of reportage that straddles the boundary into photographic art. Sebastiao Salgado alternates between the dehumanising nature of the labours’ work in the gold mine, when he shows us the scale of the excavation and the ant-like mass of tens of thousands of workers, then focuses on individuals in which we can see the overwhelming desire of men who have gambled all on one single chance of wealth. The reproduction of the images is first class, even though there will be those who will complain about images crossing the page gutters. There is also a short, but fascinating, introduction by Salgado. A masterpiece, and a must for any collection of photographic reportage and art.

Great images, made me feel quite horrified at the conditions. I am from a gold mining background and the safety aspects of this operation are prehistoric. I was exhausted by the time I got to the end of the book.

I've been waiting years for this book to be published. The photos themselves are stunning and profound, and Salgado is one of my favourite photographers. But the photos are spoilt by the ridiculous decision to produce this book in portrait format, as many of the photos are split over double pages. The seam down the middle is not just madly distracting but distorts the images, and ruins their potency. I don't think anyone would choose to watch dross on television like this, so why do it to a work of art? I can't fathom why on earth anyone would do this? Despite the amazing photos, I sadly will probably return this book. But if you think that you won't mind viewing these photos over double pages, then go ahead and buy this book.

Got it as a gift for a friend and he liked it.

Disappointed

Espetacular. Imagens incríveis que contam tudo sem palavras, mostrando a realidade de um importante pedaço da história da mineração no Pará

Un libro precioso y de buena calidad. Es tamaño grande

The writing provided the context of the why and how Salgado’s pic’s matter

Ein ganz hervorragendes Fotobuch. Salgado ist ein brasilianischer Fotograf, der in Schwarzweiß arbeitet. Seine Bilder über die Goldförderung in riesigen Gruben sind außerordentlich eindrucksvoll und können mit seinem berühmten Bildband Genesis mithalten. Ich halte ihn für einen der besten Fotografen der Gegenwart. Ich kann einem Kauf nur zuraten.

Recently added this book to my Sebastiao Salgado collection of four. It is beautifully printed as are all of his other books and it includes images that Workers does not have. If you are a fan of Salgado's work, this is a worthy book to own.