SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE DOCUMENTARY THE SALT OF THE EARTH: BRINGING INVISIBILIZED EXISTENCE TO LIGHT

Abstract

This essay discusses the sociological aspects present in the documentary The Salt of the Earth, which showcases the artistic productions of Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado from a humanizing perspective. Through a sociological lens, the study problematizes factors that have been made invisible by the capitalist system over the ages, revealing their exclusionary and dehumanizing nature throughout the history of the peoples focused on by the photographer's lens. In this context, the study was constructed based on bibliographical readings, anchored in a qualitative approach and configured as a narrative research, with an emphasis on the analysis of narratives/excerpts from the scenarios alluding to the documentary under discussion. The study is intended to spark discussions about the marginalization of less favored peoples around the world and highlight the social inequalities to which they have been exposed by the interests of capital. The analyses carried out in the study reveal that the documentary points to ways of understanding the socio-historical complexity in which contemporary societies are inserted.