Arne Sucksdorff was a swedish gentleman, born in 1917 in Stocolm, Sweden. He became a photographer and documentarist when he was very young, at 19 years old. Worked in India, and lots of diferent countries ( Europe, Antartica, etc). Studied in German under the nazi domination.

In 1962, was invited to teach in Brasil, about movies and photos. Lived in Rio de Janeiro for a while, when he met Helmut Sick, a great ornitologist. He already have a huge interest in natural enviroment and conservacionism, and in 1966, for the first time, he visited the Pantanal, very wild place (still is), with little to none men interference. Before he moved to live in Pantanal, he make a last trip to Rio and to Sweden, and when he came back, he met Maria, his 2º wife(1º was swedish, divorced), from Brasil. After he did a film in Antartica, he returned to Brasil and they got married. Maria graduated in agronomy, and was very helpful in Arne researches about fauna and flora. For this time and then, he made great studies in Pantanal, sending lots of pics and texts to other countries ( England, Germany, etc), wrote 5 books, did 20 movies and documentaries, and left us a huge photografic patrimony.

Here are some pics I got from a frinde in the UFMT ( Mato Grosso University, Pantanal area) :



















































Interesting thing is, if you go to the same places Arne lived, you can see the same magnificent animals, places, and other things he photographed ! Pantanal has changd a lot, but his essence still can be found.


Regards,

Reiter.

Fantastic photos! Are any of his films availble?

Arne Sucksdorff was a pioneering great of filmmaking and documentaries. Can't thank you enough for the insight into his life and work in Brazil. Thank you very much!