Sebastião Salgado was born in Brazil in 1944; he lives in Paris, France. An economist, Salgado began his career in Paris as a professional photographer at the age of 29. He joins the photo agency Sygma, then Gamma and, in 1979, Magnun Photos, which he left in 1994, when he and Lelia Wanick Salgado created Amazonas Images, an agency that handles exclusively his work.

Its several years of work in Latin America were brought together and condensed for both an exhibition and a book. Other Americas, published in 1986. His work in Sahel, the areas of famine and draught, over a seven-year period in cooperation with the French relief organisation Medecins sans Frontières, resulted in exhibitions and two books.

As of 1986, and over a period of 6 years, Salgado devoted himself to an extensive project, recording man in the world of work in a time of transition; the book Workers was published in 1993, in seven languages: the exhibition Workers tours internationally.

As of 1994 up to 1999, Salgado worked on a photographic investigation on the theme of population movements around the world; with these series of photo essays Salgado aimed to depict the contemporary scene of millions of people on the move, in fight from wars, revolutions or political oppression, or from the poverty of rural regions to the suburban slums of ever-growing cities. These reportages have been published internationally. This work is presented to the public in the books Migrations and Portraits, published in seven editions, launched in 2000, a touring exhibition accompanies the publications.

Sebastião Salgado has been awarded numerous major photographic prizes in recognition of his accomplishments, among which: Eugene Smith Award for Humanitarian Photography (USA) in 1962, Oskar Barnack Prize (Germany) in 1985 and 1992, "Rey de España" Award (Spain, in 1998), Erna and Victor Hasselblad Award (Sweden) in 1989, "Grand Prix de la Ville de Paris" (France) in 1991, and "Grand Prix National du Ministère de la Culture et de la Francophonie" (France) in 1994, among others.