The Scent of a Dream: Travels in the World of Coffee

by Sebastião Salgado

In this remarkable visual survey, internationally acclaimed photographer Sebastião Salgado documents traditional methods of sustainable coffee farming across the globe, revealing rituals deeply steeped in history and pride. The book spans nearly a decade of research into the hidden world of coffee, highlighting relationships characterized by respect, fair exchange, and a shared understanding that ever-improving quality has the power to improve lives. Salgado, a native to one of Brazil’s premier coffee-growing regions, is the perfect guide for a reader’s journey to principal farming locations in China, Colombia, Guatemala, Ethiopia, India, Brazil, Costa Rica, and beyond.

Genres: Photography

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Sebastião Ribeiro Salgado Júnior was a Brazilian social documentary photographer and photojournalist.
He traveled in over 120 countries for his photographic projects. Most of these have appeared in numerous press publications and books. Touring exhibitions of his work have been presented throughout the world.
Salgado was 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. He was a member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts at the Institut de France since April 2016.

Reviews

[Yumeng Zhao · Rating 4 out of 5]

Again, most spectacular documentary photography revealing the men and women behind each one of the coffee bean you and I consume. However, minimum captions make the readers feel poorly informed about each image. There should be a booklet with detailed captions and description like those other Salgado's books.

[Florin Dragusin · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I would rate it as a photo album would probably be a 5/5. Amazing photos , with the only mention that you need to go back to the end of the book to find out what each photo represents. I started the book thinking that due to the lack of text (probably 10-15 pages only) will rate it as a 2 out of 5 stars, but the pictures are really powerful. Even the cover picture looking at the original in the book looks much more expressive.
All pictures shoot in black & white gives you the feeling about the hardship and the effort put into producing the cup of coffee, going beyond the taste to the emotions put into producing it. I would have loved to read a little bit more about the process or the pictures to have a structure, to be either put together by stages of the process, by country, something to be easier to digest.

With all that I can say is a book that I would 're-read' especially if I am looking for a photography inspiration.

I discovered after finishing the book that there are descriptions of the photos at the end.

[Felipe Assis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eu sou daquelas pessoas viciadas em café e a imagem que tenho do mesmo é meramente estética: uma xícara soltado aquele perfume especular que funciona quase como um chamariz, grãos fumegantes nos chamando; digo isso pq a imagem de plantações, lavradores e maquinas; é a ultima que me vem, foi um tanto estranho pra mim, mas ao mesmo tempo reflexivo pq me fez pensar em quantas mãos humanas tocaram todas essas coisas que nos cercam e que nem temos ideia da origem ou se temos não damos a devida atenção, enfim nem preciso dizer que as imagens são belissimas, foi lindo ter esse olhar mais fundo sobre o café e a sua universalidade.

[Peter Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic photographs. I would have preferred to see the captions on each page rather than at the end.

[Peter Vegel · Rating 5 out of 5]

So happy to have discovered this treasure.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptionally outstanding photographic storybook. A master photographer if ever there was one. The prints/images remind me of film to paper prints from 20-40 years ago.

Get it for $90AUD and study it hard and follow the techniques and your photographs will just explode with quality.

[Maureen Ellsworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must "meditation" for every coffee drinker!