Edward Burtynsky
Encyclopedia
Edward Burtynsky OC
is a Canadian
photographer and artist who has achieved international recognition for his large-format photographs of industrial landscapes. His work is housed in more than fifteen major museums including the Guggenheim Museum
, the National Gallery of Canada
, and the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.
. His parents had immigrated to Canada in 1951 from Ukraine
and his father found work on the production line at the local General Motors
plant. Burtynsky recalls playing by the Welland Canal
and watching ships pass through the locks
. When he was 11, his father purchased a darkroom
, including camera
s and instruction manuals, from a widow whose late-husband practiced amateur photography. With his father, Burtynsky learned how to make black-and-white photographic prints and together with his older sister established a small business taking portraits at the local Ukrainian center. In the early '70s, Burtynsky found work in printing and he started night classes in photography, later enrolling at the Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.
in Welland, Ontario, in 1976, and a BAA in Photographic Arts (Media Studies Program) from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute
in Toronto, Ontario, in 1982.
.
His early influences include Ansel Adams
, Edward Weston
, Eadweard Muybridge
, and Carleton Watkins
, whose prints he saw at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in the early 1980s. Another group whose body of work shares similar themes and photographic approaches to Burtynsky's work are the photographers who were involved in the exhibitionNew Topographics
.
. More recently, he has begun using a digital camera for some of his photographs.
"Mines" was photographed in Bingham Valley, Utah
; Sudbury, Ontario; Butte, Montana
; Highland Valley, British Columbia and Revelstoke, British Columbia
.
"Homesteads" was photographed in Bingham Valley, Utah
; Fort Macleod, Alberta
; Upper New York State; Toronto, Ontario; Walkerville, Montana
and Browning, Montana
and locations in British Columbia
.
In 1985 he produced the "Railcuts" series, photographed in Skihist Provincial Park
, Fraser River
, Thompson River
, and Hope
in British Columbia
.
Between 1991 and 1992 he produced the "Quarry
" series in Rutland
and Barre
, Vermont
.
The "Carrara
Marble
Quarries" series was photographed in Carrara, Italy in 1991-92, e.g. Rock of Ages #59 of 1991.
until it was taken over by Architecture for Humanity
in September 2011. He sits on the board of CONTACT, Toronto's international festival of photography.
, that was shown at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival
in the World Cinema Documentary Competition.
entitled "The 10,000 year Gallery". The foundation promotes very long-term thinking and is managing various projects including the Clock of the Long Now
, which is a clock designed to run for 10,000 years. Burtynsky was invited by clock designer Danny Hillis to contribute to the Long Now project, and Burtynsky proposed a gallery to accompany the clock. In his seminar, he suggested that a gallery of photographs which captured the essence of their time, like the cave paintings at Lascaux
, could be curated annually and then taken down and stored. He outlined his research into a carbon-transfer process for printing photographs that would use inert stone pigments suspended in a hardened gelatine colloid and printed onto thick watercolour paper. He believes that these photographs would persist over the 10,000 year time-frame when stored away from moisture.
. He is also the recipient of three honorary doctorates: in Laws, from Queen's University
, Kingston
; in Fine Arts in Photography Study from Ryerson University
, Toronto
; and in Fine Arts, from Montserrat College of Art
, Boston
. He was awarded the esteemed TED Prize in 2005.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
is a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
photographer and artist who has achieved international recognition for his large-format photographs of industrial landscapes. His work is housed in more than fifteen major museums including the Guggenheim Museum
Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation is a nonprofit corporation founded in 1937 by philanthropist Solomon R. Guggenheim and artist Hilla von Rebay. The first museum established by the foundation was the "Museum of Non-Objective Art", which was housed in rented space on Park Avenue in New York....
, the National Gallery of Canada
National Gallery of Canada
The National Gallery of Canada , located in the capital city Ottawa, Ontario, is one of Canada's premier art galleries.The Gallery is now housed in a glass and granite building on Sussex Drive with a notable view of the Canadian Parliament buildings on Parliament Hill. The acclaimed structure was...
, and the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.
Early life
Burtynsky was born in St. Catharines, OntarioSt. Catharines, Ontario
St. Catharines is the largest city in Canada's Niagara Region and the sixth largest urban area in Ontario, Canada, with 97.11 square kilometres of land...
. His parents had immigrated to Canada in 1951 from Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
and his father found work on the production line at the local General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
plant. Burtynsky recalls playing by the Welland Canal
Welland Canal
The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Canada that extends from Port Weller, Ontario, on Lake Ontario, to Port Colborne, Ontario, on Lake Erie. As a part of the St...
and watching ships pass through the locks
Lock (water transport)
A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
. When he was 11, his father purchased a darkroom
Darkroom
A darkroom is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of light sensitive photographic materials, including photographic film and photographic paper. Darkrooms have been created and used since the inception of photography in the early 19th century...
, including camera
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
s and instruction manuals, from a widow whose late-husband practiced amateur photography. With his father, Burtynsky learned how to make black-and-white photographic prints and together with his older sister established a small business taking portraits at the local Ukrainian center. In the early '70s, Burtynsky found work in printing and he started night classes in photography, later enrolling at the Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.
Education
From the mid-1970s to early 1980s, Burtynsky formally studied graphic arts and photography. He obtained a diploma in graphic arts from Niagara CollegeNiagara College
Niagara College is a College of Applied Arts and Technology within the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. The College has four campuses: the Welland Campus in Welland, the Niagara-on-the-Lake Campus in Niagara-on-the-Lake, the Maid of the Mist Campus in Niagara Falls, home of the Tourism Industry...
in Welland, Ontario, in 1976, and a BAA in Photographic Arts (Media Studies Program) from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute
Ryerson University
Ryerson University is a public research university located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its urban campus is adjacent to Yonge-Dundas Square located at the busiest intersection in Downtown Toronto. The majority of its buildings are in the blocks northeast of the square in Toronto's Garden...
in Toronto, Ontario, in 1982.
Photography
Burtynsky's most famous photographs are sweeping views of landscapes altered by industry: mine tailings, quarries, scrap piles. The grand, awe-inspiring beauty of his images is often in tension with the compromised environments they depict. He has made several excursions to China to photograph that country's industrial emergence, and construction of one of the world's largest engineering projects, the Three Gorges DamThree Gorges Dam
The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, located in the Yiling District of Yichang, in Hubei province, China...
.
His early influences include Ansel Adams
Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams was an American photographer and environmentalist, best known for his black-and-white photographs of the American West, especially in Yosemite National Park....
, Edward Weston
Edward Weston
Edward Henry Weston was a 20th century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers…" and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." Over the course of his forty-year career Weston photographed an increasingly expansive set of...
, Eadweard Muybridge
Eadweard Muybridge
Eadweard J. Muybridge was an English photographer who spent much of his life in the United States. He is known for his pioneering work on animal locomotion which used multiple cameras to capture motion, and his zoopraxiscope, a device for projecting motion pictures that pre-dated the flexible...
, and Carleton Watkins
Carleton Watkins
Carleton E. Watkins was a noted 19th century California photographer.Carleton Emmons Watkins was born in Oneonta, upstate New York. He went to San Francisco during the gold rush, arriving in 1851...
, whose prints he saw at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in the early 1980s. Another group whose body of work shares similar themes and photographic approaches to Burtynsky's work are the photographers who were involved in the exhibitionNew Topographics
New Topographics
"New Topographics: Photographs of a Man-Altered Landscape" was an exhibition that epitomized a key moment in American landscape photography. The show was curated by William Jenkins at the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House in January 1975 .The exhibition had a ripple...
.
Technique
The bulk of Burtynsky's exhibited photography was taken with a large format field camera on large 4x5-inch sheet film and developed into high-resolution, large-dimension prints (of approximately 50x60 inches). He often positions himself to get a high-vantage over the landscape using elevated platforms, the natural topography, and on occasion helicopters. Burtynsky describes the act of taking a photograph in terms of "The Contemplated Moment", evoking "The Decisive Moment" of Henri Cartier-BressonHenri Cartier-Bresson
Henri Cartier-Bresson was a French photographer considered to be the father of modern photojournalism. He was an early adopter of 35 mm format, and the master of candid photography...
. More recently, he has begun using a digital camera for some of his photographs.
Photographic series
Between 1983 and 1985, Burtynsky produced two photographic series entitled "Mines" and "Homesteads.""Mines" was photographed in Bingham Valley, Utah
Bingham
Bingham may refer to:In people:*Bingham On the moon:*Bingham , a lunar craterIn the United Kingdom:*Bingham, Nottinghamshire, a town*Bingham, Edinburgh, a suburbIn the United States:*Bingham, Illinois...
; Sudbury, Ontario; Butte, Montana
Butte, Montana
Butte is a city in Montana and the county seat of Silver Bow County, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. As of the 2010 census, Butte's population was 34,200...
; Highland Valley, British Columbia and Revelstoke, British Columbia
Revelstoke, British Columbia
Revelstoke is a city in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. It is located east of Vancouver, and west of Calgary, Alberta. The city is situated on the banks of the Columbia River just south of the Revelstoke Dam and near its confluence with the Illecillewaet River...
.
"Homesteads" was photographed in Bingham Valley, Utah
Bingham
Bingham may refer to:In people:*Bingham On the moon:*Bingham , a lunar craterIn the United Kingdom:*Bingham, Nottinghamshire, a town*Bingham, Edinburgh, a suburbIn the United States:*Bingham, Illinois...
; Fort Macleod, Alberta
Fort Macleod, Alberta
Fort Macleod is a town in the southwest corner of the province of Alberta, Canada. It was founded as a North-West Mounted Police barracks, and is named in honour of the North-West Mounted Police Colonel James Macleod. The town's current mayor is Shawn Patience.- History and heritage preservation...
; Upper New York State; Toronto, Ontario; Walkerville, Montana
Walkerville
Walkerville is a name given to several places:Australia*Town of Walkerville, a local government area in South Australia**Walkerville, South Australia, a suburb in north-eastern Adelaide*Walkerville, Victoria, a town in southwest GippslandCanada...
and Browning, Montana
Browning, Montana
Browning is a town in Glacier County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,016 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Browning is located at ....
and locations in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
.
In 1985 he produced the "Railcuts" series, photographed in Skihist Provincial Park
Skihist Provincial Park
Skihist Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located on the Thompson River and adjacent to the Trans-Canada Highway between the towns of Lytton and Spences Bridge...
, Fraser River
Fraser River
The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...
, Thompson River
Thompson River
The Thompson River is the largest tributary of the Fraser River, flowing through the south-central portion of British Columbia, Canada. The Thompson River has two main branches called the South Thompson and the North Thompson...
, and Hope
Hope
Hope is the emotional state which promotes the belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life. It is the "feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best" or the act of "look[ing] forward to with desire and reasonable confidence" or...
in British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
.
Between 1991 and 1992 he produced the "Quarry
Quarries
Quarries - The "Royal Quarries" — not found in Scripture — is the namegiven to the vast caverns stretching far underneath the northern hill, Bezetha, on which Jerusalem is built. Out of these mammoth caverns stones, a hard limestone, have been quarried in ancient times for the buildings in the...
" series in Rutland
Rutland
Rutland is a landlocked county in central England, bounded on the west and north by Leicestershire, northeast by Lincolnshire and southeast by Peterborough and Northamptonshire....
and Barre
Barre
-People:* Abdulrahman Jama Barre, Somali Foreign Minister* Barre Phillips , jazz and free improvisation bassist* Erika Michelle Barré , Canadian model* Isaac Barré , British soldier and politician...
, Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
.
The "Carrara
Carrara
Carrara is a city and comune in the province of Massa-Carrara , notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some west-northwest of Florence....
Marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
Quarries" series was photographed in Carrara, Italy in 1991-92, e.g. Rock of Ages #59 of 1991.
Other projects
Burtynsky chaired the board of directors of the online sustainability magazine WorldchangingWorldchanging
Worldchanging is an American non-profit online magazine and blog about sustainability and social innovation. At 19/09/2011, it was taken over by Architecture for Humanity....
until it was taken over by Architecture for Humanity
Architecture for Humanity
Architecture for Humanity is a charitable organization that seeks architectural solutions to humanitarian crises and brings professional design services to communities in need...
in September 2011. He sits on the board of CONTACT, Toronto's international festival of photography.
Toronto Image Works
In 1985 Burtynsky established Toronto Image Works, a facility that offers darkroom rentals, equipment use and presently offers digital new-media courses. In 1986 the facility opened a gallery space which displays the work of local and international artists. He is currently president of Toronto Image Works.Manufactured landscapes
In 2006, Burtynsky was the subject of the internationally acclaimed, award-winning documentary film, Manufactured LandscapesManufactured Landscapes
Manufactured Landscapes is a 2006 documentary film about the work of photographer Edward Burtynsky. It was directed by Jennifer Baichwal and is distributed by Zeitgeist Films.- Subject matter :...
, that was shown at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival
2007 Sundance Film Festival
The 2007 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 18 until January 28, 2007 in Park City, Utah with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah and Ogden, Utah. It was the 23-rd iteration of the Sundance Film Festival...
in the World Cinema Documentary Competition.
The Long Now Foundation
In July 2008 Burtynsky delivered a seminar for the Long Now FoundationLong Now Foundation
The Long Now Foundation, established in 1996, is a private organization that seeks to become the seed of a very long-term cultural institution. It aims to provide a counterpoint to what it views as today's "faster/cheaper" mindset and to promote "slower/better" thinking...
entitled "The 10,000 year Gallery". The foundation promotes very long-term thinking and is managing various projects including the Clock of the Long Now
Clock of the Long Now
The Clock of the Long Now, also called the 10,000-year clock, is a proposed mechanical clock designed to keep time for 10,000 years. The project to build it is part of the Long Now Foundation....
, which is a clock designed to run for 10,000 years. Burtynsky was invited by clock designer Danny Hillis to contribute to the Long Now project, and Burtynsky proposed a gallery to accompany the clock. In his seminar, he suggested that a gallery of photographs which captured the essence of their time, like the cave paintings at Lascaux
Lascaux
Lascaux is the setting of a complex of caves in southwestern France famous for its Paleolithic cave paintings. The original caves are located near the village of Montignac, in the department of Dordogne. They contain some of the best-known Upper Paleolithic art. These paintings are estimated to be...
, could be curated annually and then taken down and stored. He outlined his research into a carbon-transfer process for printing photographs that would use inert stone pigments suspended in a hardened gelatine colloid and printed onto thick watercolour paper. He believes that these photographs would persist over the 10,000 year time-frame when stored away from moisture.
Awards
In April 2006 Burtynsky was named Officer of the Order of CanadaOrder of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
. He is also the recipient of three honorary doctorates: in Laws, from Queen's University
Queen's University
Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...
, Kingston
Kingston, Ontario
Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...
; in Fine Arts in Photography Study from Ryerson University
Ryerson University
Ryerson University is a public research university located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its urban campus is adjacent to Yonge-Dundas Square located at the busiest intersection in Downtown Toronto. The majority of its buildings are in the blocks northeast of the square in Toronto's Garden...
, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
; and in Fine Arts, from Montserrat College of Art
Montserrat College of Art
Montserrat College of Art is a four-year residential college specializing in the visual arts, located in Beverly, Massachusetts, 23 miles north of Boston. It is named indirectly after the Slave Ship Montserrat.-Description:...
, Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. He was awarded the esteemed TED Prize in 2005.
External links
- Edward Burtynsky Photographics Works
- Edward Burtynsky Gallery site
- Audio interview with Edward Burtynsky
- Images and profile at Specifier Magazine
- Manufactured Langscapes, Ping Magazine. An interview with Burtynsky interspersed with his photographs.
- TED Prize Wish: Edward Burtynsky on manufactured landscapes at TEDTED (conference)TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
in 2005 - http://www.contactphoto.com/