concept:era contemporary
Gold Mine, Serra Pelada, Para, Brazil
Gelatin silver print by Sebastiao Salgado, 1986. Multiple institutional collections. Shot in the Serra Pelada open-pit gold mine in Para, Brazil. Published in Workers (1993). Salgado described the scene as 'Dante's Inferno'.
Scholarly Significance
Salgado's Serra Pelada images anchor documentary photography from the Global South and the intersection of social justice and fine art photography.