In this post, I would like to present a renowned name in large format photography : Edward Burtynsky . Edward's parents immigrated from Ukraine to Canada. He had the chance to spend his childhood along an untouched north Canadian shoreline and forests which gave him a sense of geological timeline and the fact that "We all are transients" .
He was fortunate that his father bought a used darkroom with all equipment and that was where it all started at an early age. He learnt large format black and white printing and also started a business out of it. Later, he went on to have formal training.
One of the very first photographs he shot was of grass growing.
Just look at this amazing landscape transformation in 3 years ! This truly shows how fickle our creation is. Movement is all around us. How people broke their own homes at this mega scale that more than 10 cities and hundreds of villages have to be flattened out.
His other photographs also show the transformation of China, the urban and industrial renewal in China . This amazing human displacement has caused a huge amount of environmental footprint. A picture is worth a thousand words, I don't want to attempt summarizing his great work; that would be disrespect and I invite you to see his project China as well.
The photos of arrayed factories and production environments were a bit discomforting for me. He did hit a chord of sustainability. We must reduce our appetite for consumer culture. If the demand can, the production will, too. We have to very concerned about global evolution, lives across the world would determine the transformation.
He also worked on WorldChanging.com to depict, impact and inspire people towards sustainability. He feels that there is great resonance between what he is trying to do and there is really great possibility to reach audience with that. Overall , I am of course impressed with his photography and his thoughts on how he is working to improve people's prospective towards environment and sustainability.
He was fortunate that his father bought a used darkroom with all equipment and that was where it all started at an early age. He learnt large format black and white printing and also started a business out of it. Later, he went on to have formal training.
One of the very first photographs he shot was of grass growing.
Grasses, Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada, Spring 1981 , (c) Burtynsky, Edward
He went on to photograph landscapes for a while but the feeling that it would not have a finite impact on the world drew upon and he got into genre of Calendar Photography. Even in the image of grasses above, his predilection towards this timeline photography is quite evident. How the grass re-emerges in spring is much like phoenix rising to a new life from its ashes.
Interestingly, most of his photography has been using large format filed cameras onto 4X5 films. He shifted quite 'recently' to digital cameras in 2007. As can be seen in various photos in this post, he has quite achieved a feat. How he must have shot the following images from high vantage points is in itself a wonder.
He started working on images which make us "Rethink landscape" which we have transformed . The coal mining town of Frackville was the turning point in his career whose surreal Landscape and the insatiable industrial incursion which is disrupting landscape as we progress. He found this theme as his life's primary goal. The below image from his project "Mines" quite summarizes that :
Kennecott Copper Mine, Bingham Valley, Utah 1983 ,(c) Burtynsky, Edward
How we have gone down drilling down depths into mother earth here is simply appalling. The collective appetite of humanity has devoured nature. Through his photographs, he is hoping to engage audience and challenge them with a forbidden pleasure. This resonates and makes people look at it, think about sustainability. He feels that environment conservation activities have followed more of an apocalyptic theme. With a theme of attractive repulsion, he hopes to show a positive movement of sustainability.
That got him attracted to Recycling and sustainability. That took him to Bangladesh in 2000 where he photographed decommissioning of Oil tankers. The below series of images with a rustic them are from his project "Shipbreaking" .
Shipbreaking, Chittagong, Bangladesh,(c) Burtynsky, Edward
Shipbreaking, Chittagong, Bangladesh,(c) Burtynsky, Edward
Shipbreaking, Chittagong, Bangladesh,(c) Burtynsky, Edward
I especially like the symbolism in the second photograph. It's as if the ship is weeping looking into its reflection in pool of tears and thinking about its majestic past and how all big things meet an end.
Another very beautiful peculiarity I realized about his photography was use of mirror-like panoramic images as shown below. I invite you to visit his website to find more phenomenal photographs similar to this. This is definitely one of things I would try out on my next photography assignment.
Shipbreaking, Chittagong, Bangladesh,(c) Burtynsky, Edward
After working in Bangladesh, he shifted focus to China where he found similarity to his childhood Canadian industrial town where his father used to work for General motors. China is one of the biggest examples of sustainability and consumption. The construction of "Three Gorges" dam and the inevitable destruction of cities that ensued in this need for power has been beautifully captured in large portraits captured by Edward.
Three Gorges Dam Project, Yangtze River, China, 2002 (c) Burtynsky, Edward
Three Gorges Dam Project, Yangtze River, China, 2005 (c) Burtynsky, Edward
Just look at this amazing landscape transformation in 3 years ! This truly shows how fickle our creation is. Movement is all around us. How people broke their own homes at this mega scale that more than 10 cities and hundreds of villages have to be flattened out.
His other photographs also show the transformation of China, the urban and industrial renewal in China . This amazing human displacement has caused a huge amount of environmental footprint. A picture is worth a thousand words, I don't want to attempt summarizing his great work; that would be disrespect and I invite you to see his project China as well.
The photos of arrayed factories and production environments were a bit discomforting for me. He did hit a chord of sustainability. We must reduce our appetite for consumer culture. If the demand can, the production will, too. We have to very concerned about global evolution, lives across the world would determine the transformation.
He also worked on WorldChanging.com to depict, impact and inspire people towards sustainability. He feels that there is great resonance between what he is trying to do and there is really great possibility to reach audience with that. Overall , I am of course impressed with his photography and his thoughts on how he is working to improve people's prospective towards environment and sustainability.
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