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REPRESENTATION OF DEATH EXPERIENCE IN THE S.SALGADO’S CREATIVE HERITAGE // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2020. Issue 2 (24). P. 74-90

This article addresses the specific features of visualization of death in the 20th century on the example of the photographic heritage of Sebastião Salgado. Studying death as one of the key elements of collective consciousness French scholar Ph. Aries distinguishes five historical periods of development and modification of the attitude towards death. XX century is tragically known for its numerous wars and dramatic events resulting in massive loss of life and - following the scholar - became the time of “reversed death”. Displacement of death to the periphery of social and cultural life which was noted by Aries, shows the feeling of fear of death which became not worth mentioning taboo. The effort to distance ourselves from death leads to the fact that death becomes available only with help of various indirect methods such as photography. Mediatization of death allows to create a feeling of control over that phenomenon. In creative works of widely known Brazilian photographer S. Salgado one can identify a number of different series dedicated to visualization of mortality. Photo images of death created by the Brazilian photographer become a projection and conceptualization of death. Looking at photo series from South and Central Africa and America one can conclude that the image of death – the central theme of Salgado’s work – gets various ways of representation. The main ways of representation of death became aestheticization and the quest for abstract context for which his works are seriously criticized. The photographic heritage of Sebastião Salgado became an important link between documentary photography of wartime involuntarily filled with images of death and virtual images of death in modern media.

Keywords: photography, death, mortality, Salgado, representation