The Salt of the Earth (2014)

The Salt of the earth. A.Taylor Since getting into films more with a professional aspect in mind rather than just for enjoyment, I haven’t thought of looking into documentaries at all as I was of the opinion “there on TV ill catch it sometime” but after watching The salt of the earth I can truly say its brought documentaries into a whole new light for me. The salt of the earth, directed by Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, Wim Wenders tells the story of Sebastião Salgado life, how he became a photographer and the amazing highs to the extreme lows of his career as a photographer, Starting off in the industrial gold mines of Serra Pelada to the beginning of genesis the visual contrasts of the documentary tear into your heart mind and soul, touching every single topic from his home life with his family the struggles and love and support from his wife being away for such long periods of time but her un breaking support and help in producing some of the most incredible images I have ever had the pleasure to see. To the war torn brutal areas and photos of Rwanda and how what he witnessed almost caused him to give up on photography all together, only to come back stronger than ever with genesis life at the beginning of the earth and how it still survives to this day, leading him to become a founder and creator of a whole conservation project at his own original home where he grew up. Narrated by Juliano Ribeiro Salgado Telling his father’s story, I saw the film as split up into three key section, The birth of his love for photography, The hollow shell that the most despicable parts of humanity and the horror and desolation of industry can create within you and did for him, and his eventual rise by going back to the roots of nature away from the destruction of humanity to the creation of the world we love and take for granted so much today, each section describes in magnificent detail, the joy, pain and suffering you feel Sebastião must have felt through those moments of his life accompanied by the out of this world pictures he took during those time with his image and narration over the top of them you get sucked into the moment feeling the raw emotion captured within. The use of black and white not just in the picture but the lighting use when interviewing Sebastião Stole your focus at times you just wanted to tear your eyes away but there was not a chance and you couldn’t help but stare transfixed at the horror he had captured or the marvel and utter beauty of the world through his eyes, and colour throughout the film was another fantastic way to really bring depth and conflict to the film bouncing off the black and white bring a sense of warmth when times looked most desperate, and it really made me feel how bleak or how joyful his life was it is truly haunting. All this rounded off with a fantastic Sound track one song in particular really grabbed me Le Sel de la Terre - Papu's Song, Pulled you into genesis bringing you back to nature with fantastic use of drums what I think was cello is now one of my favourite compositions, just completed a wholly incredible work of art and a credit to probably one of the most amazing photographers I have ever had the pleasure to research. And as a film I will always remember it as the first documentary to truly grab me and inspire me to consider them as a career move. As for Sebastião after watching the salt of the earth how could you not want to see more of his awe inspiring work. Incredible man, Incredible Film, Really has changed the way I see my surroundings.