Sebastião Salgado’s Amazônia images in touching detail

Feel these photographs with the tips of your fingers: Amazônia Touch was created by Sebastião Salgado, Lélia Wanick Salgado, and VISIO Foundation for blind or visually impaired people: a box containing 21 three-dimensional tactile "transcriptions" of 18 photographs and 3 geographical maps from Salgado's latest book Amazônia – a tactile experience.

For seven years, Sebastião Salgado traveled throughout the Brazilian Amazonian biome photographing the rainforest, the clouds, the rivers, the mountains, and the native people who live there. His book Amazônia shows this deep universe – where the immense power of nature is like no other that can be felt on the planet – and is an invitation to contemplate those human and environmental factors that are crucial to our planet and call for protection of the eco-system and of Indigenous peoples of the region.

Together with the French VISIO Foundation, Sebastião Salgado and Lélia Wanick Salgado created an exceptional project for blind or visually impaired children and adults: Amazônia Touch, a box with 21 three-dimensional tactile "transcriptions" of 18 photographs and 3 geographical maps from Salgado's book Amazônia. These relief images are produced with brass plates, using an ancient embossing and stamping technique on Pachica paper. For the first time, it is possible to feel the power of Salgado's photographs with the tips of the fingers. The 21 relief plates are accompanied by a brochure presenting the 18 photos and the 3 maps with English, French and Brazilian texts and the access to audio descriptions of the works, which are accessible online by connecting to the website https://culture.fondation-visio.org.