Questões de Inglês

  Sebastião Salgado’s blue eyes have seen a bit of everything in this world – and this might not even be an exaggeration. For the past eight years in particular, the 69-year-old Brazilian photographer has travelled to more than 30 isolated regions of the world, collecting images of dozens of remote tribes, endangered animals and unusual landscapes.

  The Genesis project is a singular photographic journey that began in 2004 and ended in 2012, at a cost of one million Euros a year. The result will be shown in magazines, books, a documentary by Wim Wenders and a series of exhibitions around the world, each displaying some 250 black-and-white photos.

  The first exhibition will open in London on April 11, with former Brazilian President Lula – Salgado’s long-time friend – as special guest. “We want to create a little movement around these photos to provoke a debate on what we need to preserve,” he says. Salgado defends environmental causes through his organization, Instituto Terra. Even after travelling to so many exotic places, Salgado, now living in Paris, still takes vacations in Brazil. Here are excerpts from a conversation Salgado had with Folha, with new details about his travels, photographic techniques and new environmental projects.

• Coldest trip

  I visited the Nenets, in the Yamal peninsula, in northern Siberia, Russia. They are a nomadic tribe who raise reindeer in extreme Arctic conditions. When I went there it was spring and weather ranged between -35ºC and -45ºC. I didn’t wash myself for 45 days. They don’t take baths because there is no water. The only way to get water is to break off a piece of ice and warm it in a pot.

• Frozen equipment

  I used a Canon, an EOS1 Mark III, a very powerful machine. The problem was the batteries. In the Siberian temperatures, they quickly lost power. On average, I take 2,500 shots per battery, but this time I could only take 300-400 photos before the battery stopped working. I would put it inside my clothes, my assistant would give me another one, I would take 300 more pictures and, when that battery ran out energy, I would take out the other one and it would work again.

• Going digital for the first time

  I started Genesis with film and changed to digital. The airport X-Ray scanners degrade the quality of film, and so I decided to change to digital and was quite surprised. Quality was better than the one I had with negatives in medium format. I turned off the screen on the back of the camera, and used my camera as I have always done. When I came back to Paris, I printed contact sheets and edited the photos using a magnifying glass, because I don’t know how to do it in the computer.

• Stone Ages

  I met tribes that are still living in the Stone Ages, with working tools such as stone hammers. There were clans of about 10 people living in treetops. They had already seen white people before. They looked towards the direction I had come from and the chief asked me whether I was part of the white people clan that usually came from that direction. Because, for them, the world is all made of clans.

• Brazilian arrows

  I met the Zo’e tribe, in Brazil, who were first discovered 15 years ago and live in a state of total purity. You see the guy working with an arrow. He warms it, put some weight on it, a straight feather if he wants a quicker arrow, a rounder one to have it slower. It is the same science as for rockets. And he’s got the same problem as in Cape Canaveral, to recover his rockets. If his ballistic calculations are wrong, he loses his arrow. He takes only 10 arrows with him when he goes hunting, no more than that.

• Activist or photographer?

  Photography is my life. When I am taking photos, I am in a deep trance. When I have my camera and am travelling with the Nenets, it’s my life, morning to night. I have taken incredible photos, but my life is also the environment and Instituto Terra.

(www.worldcrunch.com. Adaptado.)

No trecho do quinto parágrafo – I would put it inside my clothes, my assistant would give me another one –, a palavra one referese, no texto, a

  Sebastião Salgado’s blue eyes have seen a bit of everything in this world – and this might not even be an exaggeration. For the past eight years in particular, the 69-year-old Brazilian photographer has travelled to more than 30 isolated regions of the world, collecting images of dozens of remote tribes, endangered animals and unusual landscapes.

  The Genesis project is a singular photographic journey that began in 2004 and ended in 2012, at a cost of one million Euros a year. The result will be shown in magazines, books, a documentary by Wim Wenders and a series of exhibitions around the world, each displaying some 250 black-and-white photos.

  The first exhibition will open in London on April 11, with former Brazilian President Lula – Salgado’s long-time friend – as special guest. “We want to create a little movement around these photos to provoke a debate on what we need to preserve,” he says. Salgado defends environmental causes through his organization, Instituto Terra. Even after travelling to so many exotic places, Salgado, now living in Paris, still takes vacations in Brazil. Here are excerpts from a conversation Salgado had with Folha, with new details about his travels, photographic techniques and new environmental projects.

• Coldest trip

  I visited the Nenets, in the Yamal peninsula, in northern Siberia, Russia. They are a nomadic tribe who raise reindeer in extreme Arctic conditions. When I went there it was spring and weather ranged between -35ºC and -45ºC. I didn’t wash myself for 45 days. They don’t take baths because there is no water. The only way to get water is to break off a piece of ice and warm it in a pot.

• Frozen equipment

  I used a Canon, an EOS1 Mark III, a very powerful machine. The problem was the batteries. In the Siberian temperatures, they quickly lost power. On average, I take 2,500 shots per battery, but this time I could only take 300-400 photos before the battery stopped working. I would put it inside my clothes, my assistant would give me another one, I would take 300 more pictures and, when that battery ran out energy, I would take out the other one and it would work again.

• Going digital for the first time

  I started Genesis with film and changed to digital. The airport X-Ray scanners degrade the quality of film, and so I decided to change to digital and was quite surprised. Quality was better than the one I had with negatives in medium format. I turned off the screen on the back of the camera, and used my camera as I have always done. When I came back to Paris, I printed contact sheets and edited the photos using a magnifying glass, because I don’t know how to do it in the computer.

• Stone Ages

  I met tribes that are still living in the Stone Ages, with working tools such as stone hammers. There were clans of about 10 people living in treetops. They had already seen white people before. They looked towards the direction I had come from and the chief asked me whether I was part of the white people clan that usually came from that direction. Because, for them, the world is all made of clans.

• Brazilian arrows

  I met the Zo’e tribe, in Brazil, who were first discovered 15 years ago and live in a state of total purity. You see the guy working with an arrow. He warms it, put some weight on it, a straight feather if he wants a quicker arrow, a rounder one to have it slower. It is the same science as for rockets. And he’s got the same problem as in Cape Canaveral, to recover his rockets. If his ballistic calculations are wrong, he loses his arrow. He takes only 10 arrows with him when he goes hunting, no more than that.

• Activist or photographer?

  Photography is my life. When I am taking photos, I am in a deep trance. When I have my camera and am travelling with the Nenets, it’s my life, morning to night. I have taken incredible photos, but my life is also the environment and Instituto Terra.

(www.worldcrunch.com. Adaptado.)

The Yamal peninsula

  Sebastião Salgado’s blue eyes have seen a bit of everything in this world – and this might not even be an exaggeration. For the past eight years in particular, the 69-year-old Brazilian photographer has travelled to more than 30 isolated regions of the world, collecting images of dozens of remote tribes, endangered animals and unusual landscapes.

  The Genesis project is a singular photographic journey that began in 2004 and ended in 2012, at a cost of one million Euros a year. The result will be shown in magazines, books, a documentary by Wim Wenders and a series of exhibitions around the world, each displaying some 250 black-and-white photos.

  The first exhibition will open in London on April 11, with former Brazilian President Lula – Salgado’s long-time friend – as special guest. “We want to create a little movement around these photos to provoke a debate on what we need to preserve,” he says. Salgado defends environmental causes through his organization, Instituto Terra. Even after travelling to so many exotic places, Salgado, now living in Paris, still takes vacations in Brazil. Here are excerpts from a conversation Salgado had with Folha, with new details about his travels, photographic techniques and new environmental projects.

• Coldest trip

  I visited the Nenets, in the Yamal peninsula, in northern Siberia, Russia. They are a nomadic tribe who raise reindeer in extreme Arctic conditions. When I went there it was spring and weather ranged between -35ºC and -45ºC. I didn’t wash myself for 45 days. They don’t take baths because there is no water. The only way to get water is to break off a piece of ice and warm it in a pot.

• Frozen equipment

  I used a Canon, an EOS1 Mark III, a very powerful machine. The problem was the batteries. In the Siberian temperatures, they quickly lost power. On average, I take 2,500 shots per battery, but this time I could only take 300-400 photos before the battery stopped working. I would put it inside my clothes, my assistant would give me another one, I would take 300 more pictures and, when that battery ran out energy, I would take out the other one and it would work again.

• Going digital for the first time

  I started Genesis with film and changed to digital. The airport X-Ray scanners degrade the quality of film, and so I decided to change to digital and was quite surprised. Quality was better than the one I had with negatives in medium format. I turned off the screen on the back of the camera, and used my camera as I have always done. When I came back to Paris, I printed contact sheets and edited the photos using a magnifying glass, because I don’t know how to do it in the computer.

• Stone Ages

  I met tribes that are still living in the Stone Ages, with working tools such as stone hammers. There were clans of about 10 people living in treetops. They had already seen white people before. They looked towards the direction I had come from and the chief asked me whether I was part of the white people clan that usually came from that direction. Because, for them, the world is all made of clans.

• Brazilian arrows

  I met the Zo’e tribe, in Brazil, who were first discovered 15 years ago and live in a state of total purity. You see the guy working with an arrow. He warms it, put some weight on it, a straight feather if he wants a quicker arrow, a rounder one to have it slower. It is the same science as for rockets. And he’s got the same problem as in Cape Canaveral, to recover his rockets. If his ballistic calculations are wrong, he loses his arrow. He takes only 10 arrows with him when he goes hunting, no more than that.

• Activist or photographer?

  Photography is my life. When I am taking photos, I am in a deep trance. When I have my camera and am travelling with the Nenets, it’s my life, morning to night. I have taken incredible photos, but my life is also the environment and Instituto Terra.

(www.worldcrunch.com. Adaptado.)

One of the problems Salgado had when photographing Genesis was

  Sebastião Salgado’s blue eyes have seen a bit of everything in this world – and this might not even be an exaggeration. For the past eight years in particular, the 69-year-old Brazilian photographer has travelled to more than 30 isolated regions of the world, collecting images of dozens of remote tribes, endangered animals and unusual landscapes.

  The Genesis project is a singular photographic journey that began in 2004 and ended in 2012, at a cost of one million Euros a year. The result will be shown in magazines, books, a documentary by Wim Wenders and a series of exhibitions around the world, each displaying some 250 black-and-white photos.

  The first exhibition will open in London on April 11, with former Brazilian President Lula – Salgado’s long-time friend – as special guest. “We want to create a little movement around these photos to provoke a debate on what we need to preserve,” he says. Salgado defends environmental causes through his organization, Instituto Terra. Even after travelling to so many exotic places, Salgado, now living in Paris, still takes vacations in Brazil. Here are excerpts from a conversation Salgado had with Folha, with new details about his travels, photographic techniques and new environmental projects.

• Coldest trip

  I visited the Nenets, in the Yamal peninsula, in northern Siberia, Russia. They are a nomadic tribe who raise reindeer in extreme Arctic conditions. When I went there it was spring and weather ranged between -35ºC and -45ºC. I didn’t wash myself for 45 days. They don’t take baths because there is no water. The only way to get water is to break off a piece of ice and warm it in a pot.

• Frozen equipment

  I used a Canon, an EOS1 Mark III, a very powerful machine. The problem was the batteries. In the Siberian temperatures, they quickly lost power. On average, I take 2,500 shots per battery, but this time I could only take 300-400 photos before the battery stopped working. I would put it inside my clothes, my assistant would give me another one, I would take 300 more pictures and, when that battery ran out energy, I would take out the other one and it would work again.

• Going digital for the first time

  I started Genesis with film and changed to digital. The airport X-Ray scanners degrade the quality of film, and so I decided to change to digital and was quite surprised. Quality was better than the one I had with negatives in medium format. I turned off the screen on the back of the camera, and used my camera as I have always done. When I came back to Paris, I printed contact sheets and edited the photos using a magnifying glass, because I don’t know how to do it in the computer.

• Stone Ages

  I met tribes that are still living in the Stone Ages, with working tools such as stone hammers. There were clans of about 10 people living in treetops. They had already seen white people before. They looked towards the direction I had come from and the chief asked me whether I was part of the white people clan that usually came from that direction. Because, for them, the world is all made of clans.

• Brazilian arrows

  I met the Zo’e tribe, in Brazil, who were first discovered 15 years ago and live in a state of total purity. You see the guy working with an arrow. He warms it, put some weight on it, a straight feather if he wants a quicker arrow, a rounder one to have it slower. It is the same science as for rockets. And he’s got the same problem as in Cape Canaveral, to recover his rockets. If his ballistic calculations are wrong, he loses his arrow. He takes only 10 arrows with him when he goes hunting, no more than that.

• Activist or photographer?

  Photography is my life. When I am taking photos, I am in a deep trance. When I have my camera and am travelling with the Nenets, it’s my life, morning to night. I have taken incredible photos, but my life is also the environment and Instituto Terra.

(www.worldcrunch.com. Adaptado.)

O projeto Genesis

  Brazil might be the leading economy in Latin America and has had a significant performance in reducing poverty in recent years, but it still remains among the countries with the highest inequality in the region together with Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia, points out the UN-Habitat report. In all four countries based on 2009 data, the Gini income per capita distribution index stood at 0.56, to which must be added Dominican Republic and Bolivia, two inequality champions with high concentration of wealth. This compares with the US and Portugal Gini indicator of 0.38, two countries that offer no relief since Portugal, for example, has the highest inequality index of the European Union.

  Nevertheless, Brazil advanced compared to 1990 when it had the highest degree of inequality and stood well ahead from the rest of the continent. But the region continues to have the highest inequality rate in spite of advances in helping income distribution. Among some of the causes for distribution improvement are productivity, upward trend of salaries and workers categories, strong economy and implementation of income transfer programs in several countries, particularly in the two leading economies, Brazil and Mexico. In the case of Brazil, the country’s economy now figures sixth at global level.

  The Gini coefficient or index measures the inequality among values of a frequency distribution (for instance, levels of income). A Gini coefficient of zero expresses perfect equality where all values are the same (for instance, where everyone has an exactly equal income). A Gini coefficient of one (100 on the percentile scale) expresses maximal inequality among values (for instance, where only one person has all the income).

(http://en.mercopress.com. Adaptado.)

The picture relates to the text because it illustrates

  Brazil might be the leading economy in Latin America and has had a significant performance in reducing poverty in recent years, but it still remains among the countries with the highest inequality in the region together with Guatemala, Honduras and Colombia, points out the UN-Habitat report. In all four countries based on 2009 data, the Gini income per capita distribution index stood at 0.56, to which must be added Dominican Republic and Bolivia, two inequality champions with high concentration of wealth. This compares with the US and Portugal Gini indicator of 0.38, two countries that offer no relief since Portugal, for example, has the highest inequality index of the European Union.

  Nevertheless, Brazil advanced compared to 1990 when it had the highest degree of inequality and stood well ahead from the rest of the continent. But the region continues to have the highest inequality rate in spite of advances in helping income distribution. Among some of the causes for distribution improvement are productivity, upward trend of salaries and workers categories, strong economy and implementation of income transfer programs in several countries, particularly in the two leading economies, Brazil and Mexico. In the case of Brazil, the country’s economy now figures sixth at global level.

  Former president Lula da Silva and one of the most popular leaders in history of that country based his success precisely on the Bolsa Família Plan, which distributed a monthly basic food basket to millions, helping anywhere from 14 to 22 million climb out of poverty, plus ensuring his Workers Party an encouraging future.

  The Gini coefficient or index measures the inequality among values of a frequency distribution (for instance, levels of income). A Gini coefficient of zero expresses perfect equality where all values are the same (for instance, where everyone has an exactly equal income). A Gini coefficient of one (100 on the percentile scale) expresses maximal inequality among values (for instance, where only one person has all the income).

(http://en.mercopress.com. Adaptado.)

One of Lula’s achievements was