Sahel: The End of the Road (Volume 3) (Series in Contemporary Photography)

In 1984-1985 approximately one million people died as a result of a severe famine in the Sahel region of Africa (includes parts of Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, and Sudan). Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgado spent many months shooting the disaster and "Sahel: The End of the Road" is the remarkable result of his efforts. The photos, all in black and white, are art in the most meaningful sense. Salgado's images grab you by the throat and pull you into the dizzying mix of horror, pain, love, hope and struggle that exists within a crisis like this.I suspect that some may criticize Salgado's work for being too good. His photographs are so haunting and dramatic that they arguably could be seen as exploitive. His subjects, starving people, could be mistaken for actors on Hollywood sets precisely designed to drag emotions from viewers. If Stephen Spielberg did a famine movie to match "Schindler's List", for example, it probably would look a lot like Salgado's book. I imagine critics thinking that famine is not fiction; it's real and it's ugly. But Salgado's images are not staged. This obviously was life, death and the in-between as it occurred before his eyes. His choice of black and white film and his talent for seeing, framing and capturing spectacular shots are hardly crimes. He is a great photographer and he did what he does. One cannot blame him for preferring to apply his talents out on the jagged edge of human misery rather than some Paris runway or football match. "Sahel: The End of the Road" is not poverty pornography. I am very sensitive to the issue of extreme poverty yet I did not close this book with a feeling of disgust, rather I felt more aware, more human and more determined to care.Back in 1984, during the height of that terrible famine, images on CNN and the BBC forced the western world to cringe in horror. Some turned away; some tried to help. (Remember "Live Aid" and the hit song, "We are the World"?) Politicians delivered determined speeches, preachers prayed, and the public agreed that mass starvation was not something the modern world should allow to happen. Then, of course, nothing meaningful was done to end global hunger or prevent future famines. Today, nearly a quarter of a century after the famine that Salgado photographed, more than 800 million people do not have enough food. Every day more than 16,000 children die from hunger. That's one child dying every five seconds. Buying this book, by the way, does provide some direct help as a portion of profits are given to Doctors Without Borders, an organization that provides medical aid to people in the developing world.The true horror of Salgado's book is not that it serves as a record of that terrible famine that occurred 24 years ago. This is not a mere collection of snapshots, past moments frozen forever by a camera. No, more than anything, Salgado's work is a mirror that reflects a current and continuing horror that we in the West seem to find acceptable.I highly recommend this book. It may not be the happiest book you will ever own but that is no reason not to experience the work of Salgado. As a human you have an obligation to at least look at the real world we inhabit. Don't turn away. Look, and see humanity for what it really is.For those who feel the desire or need to help improve global hunger in some way, I suggest visiting [...] and making a donation. There is a convenient page on the site that accommodates credit card transactions. A few of your dollars won't stop hunger or change the world but it may save a child or two. And that's not a bad start.--Guy P. Harrison, author ofRace and Reality: What Everyone Should Know About Our Biological Diversityand50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God

There are only a handful of photographic projects that really changed the way the world reacts.In the mid-eighties of the 20th century a disaster stroke Africa - drought and famine killed hundreds of thousands of people.But the world stood silent, mostly due to unawareness of the disaster.Then came Salgado.After more than a year in the Sahel region, Sebastiao Salgado returned with shocking images the world (apparently) was not ready to see at that time.Still, he eventually managed to publish this book in Europe, a book which became one of the most provocative and controversial pieces of documentary work at the time.Salgado, in this book, presents slow decay and death, children mortality and infants starvation.Yet, the pictures are artistically beautiful and almost touches divine perfection in a way.At various occasions, Salgado was accused in inhumanity for his ability to take these pictures, the way he perfectly composed a frame of a dying young woman while her breath slowly evaporate from her being.While looking at these images, one can easily relate to this argument: "How can he take such pictures and not helping these poor people?"Well, think again. The awareness of the western world to humanitarian disasters as such is there thanks to Salgado and his followers.This is a 'must have' book for every documentary photography enthusiast, a piece in the history of photography.Dotan Goor-Arye

Many things can be said about this book. The images tell a good story of African people and their starvation and wars. Very good story, good compositions. Watch the movie "Salt of Earth" about Salgado, it will be a good biography of this amazing man,

Used but very very good condition ‘like new’. Wrapped extremely well. Fabulous book.

this is one of the most striking and shocking works ever made by a photographer.the work of Sebastião Salgado is important not only as art, but is a picture of the injustices of our society.Impossible to see his work and not relfetir on how we see the world.

Salagado offers a not only to document events in our time ...his work challenges us all in our reaction to images of such human hardship. If "ignorance" is "to ignore" then viewing this work will challenge our ignorance...if not our conscience.

Very hard to watch while going thru the pages, but images are sending strong message and make you feel a lot

This is not a light-hearted coffee table book but one which combines absolutely stunning images with thought-provoking messages. Could not recommend it more - I keep coming back to it.

Entrega rápida. Usado en muy buenas condiciones. Cumplió muy bien por el precio.

Pour un photographe, un humaniste, ce livre prête à la réflexion à chaque photo.Est-ce que l'art peut rejoindre le photo reportage ?

One of the best and most significant photography book in my opinion.Touching, heartbreaking, makes you want to do something to change the world and the condition of people far away from our “modern society”.Salgado here is presenting, astonishing as always, the tragedy of a world that many of us do not have a chance to see, the disaster that the “rich side” of the human race is allowing to take place. It’s been almost 40 years since Salgado took these haunting photos, and yet nothing has changed apart from humanitarian associations that are actively helping people from these poor countries. As the intro of this book states “it’s up to us” to do something.

Very tough for me to give anything less than stellar recommendation for Salgado book. Pick it up.

Um trabalho comovente sem ser apelativo. É incrível ver que as fotos tiradas a tanto tempo poderiam representar locais de hoje com tranquilidade.