Poisoned Inferno

Oskar Barnack Award, prize stories

1991

Workers struggle to install a new wellhead to stem the pillars of fire. Hundreds of Kuwaiti oil wells were sabotaged by departing Iraqis, turning the desert into a poisoned inferno. Specialist firefighters moved in to minimize the damage.

Commissioned by: Magnum Photos for The New York Times Magazine

Photo Credit: Sebastiao Salgado

Sebastiao Salgado (born February 8, 1944) is a Brazilian social documentary photographer and photojournalist.

He has traveled in over 120 countries for his photographic projects. Most of these have appeared in numerous press publications and books. Touring exhibitions of this work have been presented throughout the world.

Salgado is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. He was awarded the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund Grant in 1982, Foreign Honorary Membership of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992 and the Royal Photographic Society's Centenary Medal and Honorary Fellowship (HonFRPS) in 1993.