Of the two exhibitions that we went to, I personally enjoyed and felt drawn to the photography of Sebastião Salgado more than the art in Zero at the Guggenheim. The fact that the photographs themselves were portrayed in black and white made them even more compelling and interesting. Many of the photos made me want to take the extra time to stop and really observe everything that Salgado captured at that particular moment and try to understand why it felt so powerful.

Salgado beautifully captured nature, wildlife, and people throughout different parts of the world, at angles I never thought could be possible. I especially was drawn towards his photos of both nature and wildlife. I really like animals, and to be able to see such majestic photos of them in their natural environment at such close angles was pretty amazing. I also like to travel, and one of my dreams in the future is to have the opportunity to travel parts of the world and see and experience things I’ve never seen or experienced before, which is one of the reasons why I think I was so drawn to his photos.

This also brings into perspective how important his message behind his Genesis project is. Through these spectacular pictures, he is trying to make people more aware of environmental and climate issues around the world. If we don’t take care of the environment that we live in now, eventually we’ll lose the beauty that is right before our eyes, before we even get a chance to actually see and experience it. And I think that’s essentially what Salgado is trying to convey through his stunning photography. A quote that Salgado said about his project that really struck me was, “In GENESIS, my camera allowed nature to speak to me. And it was my privilege to listen.”