by: Samuel Muñeton, Jr. | Principal and Co-Founder
In May 2025, Sebastião Salgado, a world-renowned Brazilian photojournalist and one of my favorite photographers, passed away at 81. Despite the title, he considered himself more than just a photojournalist. Salgado was a philanthropist and humanitarian who, according to his family, "tirelessly fought for a more just, humane, and ecological world".
Salgado began as an economist, but at around 30 years old was introduced to photography by his wife Léila Wanick Salgado. Embracing photography in 1973, he made it his life for the next 20 years. He created iconic black and white photos of gold miners in Brazil, refugees in Ethiopia and Rwanda, and firefighters battling the burning oil fields in Kuwait. After documenting the atrocities of the Rwandan Genocide, however, he ultimately felt he was "losing faith in our species." Salgado returned home to rural Aimorés, a small town in Minas Gerais, Brazil, physically and spiritually ill.
Not too long after his return, his parents transferred ownership of their rural farmland to Sebastião and his wife Léila. When they inherited the land, Sebastião shared, "This land was as dead as I was."
Salgado estimated that his land was, at one point, 50% rainforest, but only 0.5% remained by the time he inherited it. Undeterred, Léila encouraged Sebastião to rebuild paradise.
Together, they slowly rebuilt the ecosystem by planting native trees and plants, reviving both the land and, ultimately, himself. In 1998, the couple co-founded Instituto Terra. The Instituto, today, has restored more than 2,300 hectares of Atlantic Forest, with more than 3.5 million trees planted and the return of hundreds of native fauna species. Sebastião returned to photography, inspired to document humanity in equilibrium with nature. This led to Genesis, a massive photographic collection of landscapes, wildlife, and indigenous people across the world between 2004 and 2011.
I was drawn to Sebastião Salgado, the photographer, because his work is stunning, but more because I am drawn to Salgado the philanthropist due to his empathy. His life's work is not inspired by legacy or power, but instead by purpose. Unlike Salgado, I have not had the privilege of traveling to over 120 countries. But, after launching Sovereign Good, I now have the privilege of helping those find their purpose and follow in his footsteps.