This photographer took 12 years to complete his latest project on what he calls “one of the most important products we trade in the world.”  It’s well worth the wait.

Sebastião Salgado, a renowned photographer from Brazil, partnered with Illy, the Italian coffeehouse, to document the world’s coffee-growers. A beautiful coffee table book, titled the Scent of a Dream: Travels in the World of Coffee, debuted earlier this year, featuring intimate images of coffee farmers from far corners of the globe: China, India, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and more.

Andrea Lilly, CEO of Illycaffe, visited Salgado at the Instituto Terra, a research center and reforestation program started by Salgado in his native Brazil, in 2002.  Illy quickly became a partner, trying to resurrect a seemingly dead swath of land into a thriving forest.  Lilly was as interested in Salgado’s environmental pursuits as his artistic talent.

“When I…