I eventually got to see the exhibition yesterday, I really enjoyed it, however it left me undecided because the positives and negatives were in equal measure and I left feeling.... well.... flat.
Positives, subject portrayal, all of the intimate portraits and social shots (in my view what Salgado is best at), magnitude of the project, the abstract landscapes ( Baobab trees and Caimans stick in my memory). Using black and white for nature shots where we are so used to seeing over saturated colour imagery.
Negatives, the sizing of the prints given the space they were in, many of which were better viewed from the opposite side of the room although you couldn't because there were people in the way. The use of varied sizes of print which did not seem to suit the subject matter, intimate subject, huge print. And my final thing, the prints themselves, the over sharpening of some of the images had birds looking like stickers on a kids sticker book, some of the fake grain was intrusive and the overall over use of high contrast spoilt things for me. Interestingly none of these qualities applied to the intimate portraits which were beautifully printed.
Maybe it is of my aesthetic preferences in a print and most of those who will visit the exhibition it won't matter too but I would love to see it again printed at 20x16 throughout and with more subtle finishing.
I didn't buy the book.
