The Spectre of Hope

Sebastiao Salgado, born in Brazil, was originally an economist, but he is now a world-renowned photographer. He worked for six years on his latest project ‘Migrations’ and travelled to 43 countries to photograph people who have been chased out of their homes to slum areas, ghettos and refugee camps. Based on his penetrating photos – beautifully shown by director Paul Carlin – Salgado talks about his work to John Berger, who is well known for his sharp analyses of social and economic processes of change and their consequences for people, as well as being a writer and art critic. How do you put into pictures the seriousness of the situation in which many people live without resorting to evoking feelings of pity or disgust?