Wim Wenders, Sebastiao Salgado, & Unrealized Potential

Wenders, primarily known as a filmmaker, is heavily influenced by the aesthetic quality of photographs, especially Polaroids, as they bear an inherent honesty in the instant print that can be so easily shared. The Polaroid, as a tool in service to acquiring visual literacy, follows a long tradition in photography, being used as a means of informing other "established" art forms. Amongst his photographic practice, two notable bodies of work emerged: "Written in the West," a cataloging of locations that inspired his film Paris, Texas, and "Instant Stories," a collection of mementos in the form of disparate New York street corners and mirror portraits. In examining both series, particularly the former, Wenders's deep interest in understanding the unrealized or lost potential of people and places, and how these respective people and places cope with the issue of outliving their usefulness or, more accurately, their dramatization, becomes clear. This state of mind informs Paris, Texas's main character, Travis, in his pursuit and glorification of the almost mythologized city, despite never reaching it during the runtime of the film. Paris, Texas is an intensely American film, a subversion of traditional Western tropes centered on the perils of losing yourself as a form of penance. Living amongst the folklore of the Southwest, Travis has convinced himself that erasing his past was enough for forgiveness, but is that true? As a photographer, I'm constantly told of the hazards of representing a community that is not of your own tradition and the burden of being an honest documentarian. Artists such as Dawoud Bey and Joan E. Biren are examples of photographers who strive to preserve the authenticity of their own communities. Yet, Wenders is seemingly a guest in his process. You wouldn't consider him to be a German artist, and perhaps escaping his own heritage is the greatest effort in his career. In his youth, Wenders speaks of the dilemma of growing up in the shadow of Nazi Germany. How can you be expected to create works that testify to people that you are ashamed of? People say misery loves company but company does not heal misery.

The Salt of the Earth is a documentary directed by Wenders that portrays the life and career of photojournalist Sebastião Salgado and the moral dilemmas he faced in documenting the Third World. His black-and-white compositions of seemingly ever-expanding landscapes and people lost to the march of time carry an appreciation for tradition, a kind of self-assurance that grows more elusive in the modern day. His photobook Exodus, which is featured in the film, details a six-year period in which Salgado traveled across dozens of countries, including Albania, Mozambique, Tanzania, and India, with the purpose of detailing the displacement of populations through deprivation and telling the experience of the migrant through images. A life of forced exile, yet despite that, Salgado maintains a balance in showing the beauty of how people cling to their heritage in the face of the unknown. Salgado's critics argue he aestheticizes suffering though such an argument devalues the sacrifices he's made in service to these projects. The pain of the world becomes the pain of the individual. Wenders' sympathies in creating this film are apparent; both artists are at times exiles and strive to find meaning in tradition, particularly if tradition betrays your potential. In 1969, Salgado was forced to flee his native country of Brazil out of fear of repercussions for his support and involvement in the government of President João Goulart and the anti-militant movement. He only returned in the 1980s following his series titled Other Americas, which existed as an attempt to reconnect with a native land that was in a state of redefining itself. His first exploration into social documentary informs his life's work. The Salt of the Earth intertwines the lives of Wim Wenders and Sebastião Salgado offering sympathy to understanding the collective human condition and providing example of how art can be used as a tool for coming to terms with your identity.