'Exodus' in black and white: wrenching photos of displaced world citizens on display at Library Square

In addition to detailing the aftermath of the Rwanda apocalypse, Salgado's exhibit tackles the displaced hordes in Angola who camp out near railroad tracks, in movie theaters, schools or museums, as well as the thousands of Mozambique exiles living in Tanzania.

"Exodus" also grapples with the Brazilian dilemma of five million rural workers unable to acquire land to work, and poverty-stricken Mexicans displaced by Zapatistas.

In the "Migrants and Refugees" section, Salgado starkly depicts the demise of Kabul, Afghanistan, since the Soviets abandoned the country in the late 1980s. Each armed faction that has conquered the city has provoked an exodus, and the images graphically portray just how little is left.

The same section includes a series of photographs of the Vietnamese boat people. Some 800,000 fled the country and Communist rule, only to wind up in permanent detention centers in some other Asian country.

During the "Exodus" project in 1994 in Mozambique, Africa, children would surround Salgado as he worked, hoping to have their picture taken one more time. According to photographer Kent Miles, exhibit project director, Salgado would "promise the children if they would line up and wait, he would take their photograph later."

Eventually Salgado discovered he had so many good portraits of children they deserved their own section in the show.

As the last segment in the exhibit, "The Children" is a compelling selection of 40 portraits, each with the ability to effect emotion. According to the photographer, the children look "beautiful, happy, proud, pensive or sad."

The artistry throughout the exhibit is superb, and even though Salgado is claimed to have been more interested in the message, each photograph is an extraordinary example of lighting and composition.

Salgado created "Exodus" in the hopes that "as individuals, as groups, as societies, we can pause and reflect on the human condition at the turn of the millennium. In its rawest form individualism remains a prescription for catastrophe. We have to create a new regimen of co-existence."

"Exodus" succeeds on every level, and the Center for Documentary Arts deserves praise for spearheading the two-year effort to bring this major exhibition to Salt Lake City.

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If you go . . .

What: "Exodus — Photographs by Sebastio Salgado"

Where: The Leonardo at Library Square, 209 E. 500 South

When: Through Dec. 17

Dates/Times: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Wednesday, Friday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sunday, 1-5 p.m.

How much: $10 for adults; $7 for seniors, military, students, youths (12-17)

Phone: 531-9800

Web: www.theleonardo.org

Also: Not recommended for children under 12 due to mature content

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E-mail: gag@desnews.com