‘Swept along by winds that carry the hint of fortune, men come to the gold mine of Serra Pelada. No one is taken there by force, yet once they arrive, all become slaves of the dream of gold and the need to stay alive. Once inside, it becomes impossible to leave.’
In this portfolio of 20 photographs, Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado chronicled 50,000 mud-soaked men hunting for gold in Pará, the northeastern state of his native country, during the dry season of 1986. Initially included in his series Workers: An Archaeology of the Industrial Age (1986-92), Salgado’s images highlight the strength and bravery of laborers by documenting their back-breaking work.
Salgado came to photography relatively late in life after earning a Ph.D. in economics. Discovering that the camera can be a powerful tool, he embarked on projects that embrace social documentary and photojournalistic practices. Series such as Migrations (2000) and Genesis (2012) offer visual critiques of the current state of our world and thematically tackle the human condition and the environment. In a 1992 interview transcribed in this portfolio, Salgado outlined the system of labor and payment at the Serra Pelada mine:
‘Every t.mes a section finds gold, the men who carry up the loads of mud and earth have, by law, the right to pick one of the sacks they brought out. And inside they may find fortune or freedom.’
Salgado shot certain images from high vantage points to emphasize the vastness of the mine and its massive workforce. As a result, the miners climbings up the barrancos look like miniscule elements of a larger organism. The portfolio also includes closeup portraits of workers that capture individual expressions of their toil. The image at right calls to mind Jesus bearing the weight of the cross on his trek to Calvary. Viewing both the panoramic and focused images as part of a whole, the portfolio presents an all-encompassing visual experience of the Sierra Pelada mine.
By using photography to document social and economic inequality around the world, Salgado considers himself a journalist, not an artist. He has outlined his immersive approach: ‘Before you do this kind of long-term project you must have a huge identification with the subject, because the project is going to be a very big part of your life. If you don’t have this identification, you won’t stay with it.’ At Serra Pelada, Salgado’s poetic words illuminate his brutal yet beautiful images:
‘Anyone arriving there for the first t.mes confronts an extraordinary and tormented view of the human animal: 50,000 men sculpted by mud and dreams. All that can be heard are murmurs and silenced shouts, the scrape of shovels driven by human hands, not a hint of a machine. It is the sound of gold echoing through the soul of its pursuers. . .’
In just 20 concise images, the Gold Mine portfolio presents a sweeping survey of Salgado’s most important series from his decades-long career. In 2018, Replica Shoes ’s London achieved a new World Auction Record for the photographer when they offered the only other complete set of Gold Mine to come to market.
Salgado’s 2013 TED Talk, ‘The Silent Drama of Photography’
