Benedikt Taschen and Sebastião Salgado talk in this 5-minute long video below about the 32 destinations visited by the latter — most of which had no roads leading to them except the ones made by human footprints. Salgado also discusses the effects the making of his book Migrations had on him — how the subject matter he chose to capture in that work (published in 2000) saw him photographing and watching people die. The Migrations project sent Salgado into a depression that made him want to stop photographing all together, a profession which had been his artistic calling since the 1970s. When the Paris-based artist and his wife went on a trip to plant a rain forest, Salgado was so sure that none of the trees he planted would grow. A year later he returned and saw that indeed the trees had grown; it was his saving grace, he realized, “that is where all life is.” He returned to photography and his wife, Lélia Wanick Salgado, conceived the inspiration for this new book of photographs from Salgado and Taschen: Genesis. 

Salgado’s lastest are the truly stunning photographs that resulted from his return to photography — an epic eight-year expedition to rediscover the mountains, deserts and oceans, the animals and peoples (think tribal) that have so far escaped the imprint of modern society. The Collector’s Edition comes with a custom book stand made of cherry wood designed by Tadao Ando. Worldwide there will be 3,000 limited edition numbered and signed sets. The project was edited and designed by Lélia Wanick Salgado and comes in 2 volumes bound in quarter-leather and cloth. Coming in SUMO size (18.4 x 27.6 in.,) included is also a cloth-bound caption book all delivered in a wooden cargo box that weighs a total of 130 lbs. Genesis costs $4,000. Check out the gallery below for a quick look of the Ando stand and a few other details of Genesis.