Edward Burtynsky: Exploring the Residual Landscape

Shipbreaking #13, Chittagong, Bangladesh 2000

“These images are meant as metaphors to the dilemma of our modern existence; they search for a dialogue between attraction and repulsion, seduction and fear. We are drawn by desire—a chance at good living, yet we are consciously or unconsciously aware that the world is suffering for our success. Our dependence on nature to provide the materials for our consumption and our concern for the health of our planet sets us into an uneasy contradiction. For me, these images function as reflecting pools of our times.”

—Edward Burtynsky

Edward Burtynsky’s remarkable photographic depictions of global industrial landscapes are included in the collections of more than 50 museums around the world, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Bibliotèque Nationale in Paris, the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in California.

Born in 1955 of Ukrainian heritage in St. Catharines, Ontario, Burtynsky is a graduate of Ryerson University, where he earned a bachelor's of applied arts in photography, and he studied graphic art at Niagara College in Welland. He links his early exposure to the sites and images of the General Motors plant in his hometown to the development of his photographic work. His imagery explores the intricate link between industry and nature, combining the raw elements of mining, quarrying, manufacturing, shipping, oil production, and recycling into eloquent, highly expressive visions that find beauty and humanity in the most unlikely of places. In 1985, Burtynsky founded Toronto Image Works, a darkroom rental facility, custom photo laboratory, and digital imaging and new media computer-training center catering to all levels of Toronto's art community. Burtynsky also sits on the board of directors for Toronto’s international photography festival, Contact, and The Ryerson Gallery and Research Center.

Significant exhibitions include Oil (2009) at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. (five-year international touring show), Manufactured Landscapes at the National Gallery of Canada (touring from 2003-2005), Before the Flood (2003), and China (toured 2005-2008).

Currently, the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire is showingNature Transformed: Edward Burtynsky's Vermont Quarry Photographs in Context until August 19. Upcoming in the newly expanded The Photographer's Gallery in London is an exhibit of Oil from May 19–July 1.

For more information about the photographer, his work, and current and upcoming exhibitions, visit his website at www.edwardburtynsky.com.