Sebastião Salgado was born in Brazil and took up photography while studying in Paris, where he worked for the Sygma and Gamma agencies. In 1977 he began to photograph frequently in South America. In 1987 he begam a project to document the disappearance of traditional manual industries throughout the world which became the subject of his book The Workers. Among his many awards was the Photographic Jouranlist of the Year in 1986.