“The picture is not made by the photographer, the picture is more good or less good in function of the relationship that you have with the people you photograph.”

“Whenever possible, Salgado lives for a while with the people he photographs. “I tell a little bit of my life to them, and they tell a little of theirs to me. The picture itself is just the tip of the iceberg.”

“The picture is bad because the photographer was poor. I took the picture myself, and you can clearly tell I have no money.”

“Old pictures look very rugged and young, and the people in the photographs always seem a lot happier than you are.”

“You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”

“The picture is grainy. But that’s to be expected when photographing bread.”

“A mulher não tem forças para acompanhar o homem além dos limites normais traçados à espécie. E o gênio é o herói infeliz, que leva para a esfera dos arcanjos, onde deve conviver, os desejos e os instintos humanos, que os arcanjos, seus irmãos, não conhecem. Do alto, fica, pois, a acenar à sua companheira, mas ela não o compreende e não pode amá-lo. Sente por ele a revolta da própria inferioridade. E eis por que são infelizes no amor todos os gênios e todos os heróis.”