Sebastiao Salgado is a photographer known for social documentary photos and photojournalism. He was born on February 8th, 1944 in Aimorés, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. This photo is depicting firefighter putting attempting to put out an oil fire in Kuwait in 1991.
The first thing that stands out in this image is the intense contrast between black and white. The oil* and the fire are white, which I find interesting because white is typically associated with innocence and gentleness. In this case, the most harmful parts of this event are lighter (closer to white) than the background. This is seemingly an iconic photo because it showcases a firefighter being drenched in oil and still moving forward toward the fire to try and ease that situation. Even when they were in a dangerous position (being covered in oil) they were trying to solve the problems around them. I think that this image is symbolic of the bravery that firefighters have, especially during emergencies.
*I could not find any research that clarified whether the liquid falling was oil or water, so given the situation, I referred to it as oil.
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