A Journey Through the Lungs of the World: Sebastião Salgado’s Amazônia Exhibition in Brussels

For someone passionate about travel, the idea of crossing borders in a single day is already exhilarating. But when that day trip leads to one of the world’s most powerful photography exhibitions, it becomes unforgettable. Currently on display in Brussels, Sebastião Salgado’s Amazônia invites visitors into the heart of the Amazon rainforest, a realm of breathtaking beauty, rich indigenous culture, and ecological urgency.

Housed in Shed 4 bis at Tour & Taxis, directly across from the Food Market and sharing an entrance with WOM, the Amazônia exhibition offers a full sensory experience. It’s not just a collection of photographs; it’s an immersive journey into the world’s largest tropical rainforest. With over 1.5 million visitors across cities like Paris, Rome, London, Los Angeles, São Paulo, and Zurich, Amazônia has already left an indelible mark on global audiences. Now, it arrives in Brussels with renewed resonance following the passing of its legendary creator.

Sebastião Salgado, who died in May 2025 at the age of 81, was a towering figure in photography. Born in Aimorés, Brazil, and originally trained as an economist, Salgado began photographing in the early 1970s. Over five decades, his signature black-and-white imagery chronicled both human suffering and natural splendor in over 130 countries. For someone working with International Relations, the idea of travelling to so many countries is incredible.

From the famine in the Sahel (1984) and the Gulf War’s burning oil fields (1991) to the genocide in Rwanda (1994), his camera bore witness to the world’s most painful and profound moments. Yet it was in his home country (my home country) that Salgado’s lens found perhaps its most moving subject. In Amazônia, his final major project, he spent seven years traversing the vast Brazilian rainforest, capturing its rivers, mountains, and the daily lives of its Indigenous peoples. The result: over 200 black-and-white photographs that offer both a tribute and a call to action.

Salgado documented a dozen Indigenous groups, from hunting and fishing expeditions to sacred rituals and celebrations. Accompanying the exhibition is a powerful soundtrack by Jean-Michel Jarre, composed using actual sounds from the forest. The result is an emotional, enveloping experience that appeals to all senses: sight, sound, and soul.

More than an aesthetic showcase, Amazônia delivers a sharp reminder of the Amazon’s ecological importance. Known as “the lungs of the world,” the rainforest plays a vital role in carbon dioxide absorption, crucial in the global fight against climate change. He offered glimpses of the Amazonian Flying Rivers, a vital part of the water cycle for South America. The exhibition also emphasizes that, in Indigenous-protected territories, the forest has remained largely untouched. Proof of the enduring connection between these communities and the land.

Yet Salgado’s work has not escaped criticism. Some Indigenous scholars and activists argue that his portrayal romanticizes or “freezes” their cultures in an unchanging past. João Paulo Barreto, an anthropologist from Brazil’s Tukano ethnic group, described the exhibition as a “violent depiction of Indigenous bodies” after viewing it in Barcelona earlier this year. In 2016, academics from Brazil’s Federal University of Acre similarly challenged his work for promoting a static image of Indigenous life.

These critiques are essential to consider. But for me, Salgado’s work remains otherworldly. It’s rooted in reverence. Both for the forest and for the people who call it home. His lens doesn’t simply observe; it advocates and lobbies for a sustainable world. Alongside his wife and creative partner Lélia Wanick Salgado, he co-founded Instituto Terra, a reforestation initiative that restored his father’s land by planting over three million trees.

In 2024, Salgado received the Sony World Photography Awards’ Outstanding Contribution to Photography, adding to a list of accolades that includes the Prince of Asturias Award, the Eugene Smith Award for Humanitarian Photography, and the ICP Infinity Award for Journalism.

With his passing, we’ve lost an extraordinary storyteller, one whose legacy is etched in shadow and light, in humanity and nature. But his work lives on, urging us to care, to feel, and, most of all, to act.

Amazônia is currently on display in Brussels, less than three hours from London with Eurostar’s trains, offering a rare opportunity to see the Amazon through Salgado’s eyes, and to hear its voice through the sounds of the forest.

More information about the exhibition is available here: https://expo-amazonia.com/en/