In 1991, Sebastião Salgado, a Brazilian documentary photographer, traveled to Kuwait to document the devastating oil fires set during the Gulf War. After Iraqi forces were driven out, retreating troops ignited 600-700 oil wells, causing massive fires and toxic clouds. Salgado’s black and white photographs capture the extreme, hazardous conditions faced by firefighters in sweltering heat and smoke. This series, published by Taschen as ‘Kuwait. A Desert on Fire,’ spans 208 pages and illustrates both the environmental impact and human bravery involved in extinguishing the blaze over nearly 11 months. Read Article