Sebastiao Salgado - The scent of a dream - Travels in the work of coffee - a review

The Scent of a Dream is a 2015 photo book published by Abrams books featuring the phenomenal images of black and white artist Sebastiao Salgado. The book depicts images from Sebastian’s travels across the world. The overarching theme is coffee. The viewer is presented with stunning scenes of workers associated with the worldwide coffee trade. 

As a black and white study, Salgado proves why he is a master of black and white photography. His use of available light is impressive. Salgado constantly find the exact place to place himself such that the viewer always sees the most stark contrast. As a viewer I find myself lost in scenes of coffee around the world. The book in sequenced to ensure the viewer sees a narrative for the coffee, starting at the very beginning, in the vast fields of raw coffee bean plants, all the way to mass processing of the coffee prior to it being shipped to you. The viewer is gifted with understanding the process of making, growing, harvesting, and processing coffee from the beginning to the end

Interestingly, the concept, design, and editing was done by the artist’s wife, Lelia Wanick Salgado. I love that the husband and wife combo present the book together. I am truly happy for Sebastiao, having found a partner who is not only interested in their partner’s, but also vested in successful roll out of the product. It is truly a testament to a loving and devoted family and artistic team. 

Here Salgado presents in a line moving toward the coffee fields. As a black and white photographer here is my technical understanding of this scene. I observe something I can only describe as impressive work. The entire greyscale is represented, which I enjoy. Salgado positioned himself in such a way to take in the line of people. The sunlight through the trees creates a artistic white line around some of the subjects toward the middle of the image. That light painting adds a layer of beauty as well. 

As a human observer of art and armchair cultural anthropologist, this image immediately formulates questions about what I see. Where are these peoples coming from? Is this a daily ritual for those who work in the coffee fields? Finally, a question I will always have, how did Salgado find himself there? I find this work to be moving. I immediately feel for these people, and any people who are doing work like this around the world. To me, this is impressive work. 

What do you think? I would love to know in the comments.

Here Salgado Showing the movement of some of the coffee, already bagged, onto a truck. Again the light that Salgaldo found was extraordinary. The light rays have a great haze to them. The lights themselves lead to some of the subjects, s suspended in motion with the coffee bags. The contrast of the bags in the foreground is also done well. The coffee bags themselves in the foreground add to the sense of depth and 3 dimensionality of the piece. Finally, the grain and haze / diffusion around the lights could only be accomplished with a stunning film emulsion. 

As I look at this image, I wonder how long these individuals have to fill these trucks daily. What is the quota per day. I have a sense of awe and wonder as I peer into the lives of these workers

In the next image, again Salgado plays with his placement of light. Notice the intentionality in this work. He ensured he stood behind the tree to give the view this visual effect. The same sense of depth is created with his imaginative placement of the characters in the scene. Not only is the scene already contrasted well; the light behind the tree adds to this overall. 

There is a coy smile on the worker directly in front of the tree, which add to this sense of emotion of the piece. Even through this grueling work, Salgado was able to find some happiness in his subject. Salgado always know hows to find the humanity in a scene, even in the most remote locations in the world, such as this. 

Finally, the image is edited in such a way that the viewers eye is drawn directly to what Salgado wants you to see. Personally, I am immediately drawn to the stark light, then my gaze moves down to the beautiful woman with the smile. 

Another magical image by Sebastiao Salgado. Here, we see a woman in the process of picking coffee directly from the plant itself. I have only seen coffee in this form once, while I was visiting the Big Island of Hawaii with some friends and my wife. I took the time to touch those leaves, and I can say from personal experience, the subject of our image indeed has some well worked hands. 

Notice the entire scene. There are two workers in the image, one fully engaged in the work while the other looks directly at the camera. I am a huge proponent of eye contact in all images, but especially documentary work such as this. The use of the intense clouds in the backgrounds really give another element to be considered. To me, this is another example of his masterful work.

This is an impressive book. The book is sequenced in such a way that it brings the viewer into the world of coffee. I advocate all read this book. The photographer gets a masterclass in black and white work and subject placement. The non photographer is immediately brought into a world they may not know. I recommend this book fully.

I leave the reader with some of my favorite images from the book.Enjoy