Also, one of the things I have to keep in mind is that, for all the third-world-commodity-fetishism that Salgado and his work definitely plays into, MST settlers that I talked to (i.e. not the political leaders who are more invested in the images for propaganda purposes, but people who have joined the movement and benefited from it, obtained a plot of land that has guaranteed them a secure material future that they could not locate before along with many community resources like education and health) seemed to really love the photos, they see themselves reflected in the images as heroes in a struggle, people living with passion and dignity, et cetera.

So that is another thing which will influence my analysis. As most people pointed out, the specific context for the viewer and the subject really matters in any judgement one might make. All the more fun for me ;-).

I always wondered why do people consider U.S. Government contractors (the FSO photographers) as left-wing activists… Same goes to Salgado, who is a World Bank contractor (me scratches head).

Oh, the good life the gov’t grants us… http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/ppmsc/00100/00188r.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%ADchel_Salgado

Hmmm, the girl reminds me of that photo of the Pastun girl in Afghanistan which was around a while ago, and those thirties photos of the victims of the Great Depression in Europe. It, in other words, the girl as the exemplary vulnerable body (and also the potential site of communal regeneration). I feel like this is quite a standard trope in western liberal discourses.