By Noémie de Bellaigue
The Eye of Photography
The Berlin gallery presents a selection from series by the Canadian photographer produced on the African continent. Aerial views of breathtaking pictorial power which bear witness to the effects of industrial expansion on African landscapes while celebrating those still preserved from human exploitation.
How can we measure the impact of human activity on our planet, other than through data? How can we represent the damage caused by industrial activity, other than through images of devastation? How can we talk about Africa today other than through poverty?
For seven years, from 2015 to 2020, Edward Burtynsky explored ten African countries from the air – the aerial point of view being, according to him, the most powerful scale to reveal the immensity of his subject.
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Read MoreBy Brenda Chávez
Rockdeluxe
Es una leyenda de la fotografía por haber documentado como nadie antes el efecto de la actividad humana sobre nuestro frágil planeta. Parte de su trabajo en países de África subsahariana, la exposición “African Studies”, puede visitarse en el espacio madrileño CentroCentro, dentro del festival PHotoEspaña, hasta el 1 de octubre. Hablamos con él sobre su implicación como artista entusiasta que observa todo lo que lo rodea como un dedicado guardián del medio ambiente.
Read the full interview here.
Read MoreBy Ellyn Kail
Feature Shoot
In his new book, Edward Burtynsky recalls photographing oil bunkering sites in Nigeria’s Niger Delta as a “transformative moment of consciousness”—one that demonstrated the true scope of the wounds we inflict on our planet. With refineries spread out across the land, swaths of the environment have been drenched in oil. As the photographer leaned out of a helicopter to take in the scene, surreal colors spread out before him, as far as the eye could see.
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Read MoreBy Gaia Vince
BBC Culture
Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky discusses his startling and unexpectedly sublime photos – 'an extended lament for the loss of nature' – with Gaia Vince.
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Read MoreBy Erica Ackerberg
NYT Book Review
The Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky’s remarkable, large-scale images offer a painterly view of man-made infrastructure around the world, from quarries in Portugal to rice fields in China to oil refineries in California. His new book, AFRICAN STUDIES (Steidl, $95), focuses on a region he calls globalism’s “final stop”: sub-Saharan Africa. Capturing the impact of industrialization on the landscapes of Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Ethiopia and more from high above — from airplanes, helicopters and drones — Burtynsky’s camera documents in stunning detail and vibrant hues the toll of human intervention on our planet, from salt and sapphire mining to plastics recycling and dams. This book is both “a cautionary tale,” he says, and a reminder that this continent “still possesses some of the greatest natural reserves in the world.”\
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Read MoreNYC-ARTS
A profile of Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky, known for his large format photographs of industrial landscapes. His work integrates critical reporting with visual aesthetics, bearing witness to the impact of humans on the planet.
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Read MoreBy Elyssa Goodman
Blind Magazine
At first glance, Edward Burtynsky’s “African Studies” exhibition at the Howard Greenberg Gallery is a majestic geometry of colors and shapes, all with roots in art history.
The salt ponds of Senegal have traces of Gustav Klimt, sewn together mosaic-like near the towns of Tikat Banguel and Fatick. A view from above the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam recalls M.C. Escher’s famed staircases. In the coal tailings of South Africa, the plume of an Erte ensemble and the distressed rivulets of a Jackson Pollock. But a closer look, a closer read, reveals the startling nature of what Burtynsky calls “business as usual.”
“African Studies” is currently on view in two New York galleries: at Howard Greenberg until April 22 and at the Sundaram Tagore Gallery until April 1. It was also released as a monograph by Steidl at the end of last year. It is a continuation of Burtynsky’s travels across the globe, capturing modern landscapes both touched and untouched by human hands, some more virulently than others.
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Read MoreBy Saffron Ward
Aesthetica Magazine
In November 2022, the world’s population hit 8 billion – a staggering milestone. Although the growth rate is slowing, the resources needed to support human life remain out of reach. Approximately 1.75 Earths are needed to sustain current activity. Therefore, the natural world has been morphing into something altogether different for centuries. In 2019, the United Nation’s global assessment report stated that 75% of ice-free land has been significantly changed by society, from agriculture to housing and industry. This “terrible beauty” is the subject of Edward Burtynsky’s (b. 1955) large-scale photographic works.
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Read MoreBy Grace Ebert
Colossal
Renowned photographer Edward Burtynsky approaches his latest project with curiosity about the future of human impact and globalization. From the diamond mines of South Africa to the richly textured landscape of Namibia’s Tsaus Mountains, African Studies spotlights the sub-Saharan region and its reserves of metals, salt, precious gemstones, and other ores. “I am surveying two very distinct aspects of the landscape,” he says in a statement, “that of the earth as something intact, undisturbed yet implicitly vulnerable… and that of the earth as opened up by the systematic extraction of resources.”
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Read MoreBy Mary Harper
BBC News Africa
For the past 40 years, Edward Burtynsky has photographed the impact of human industry on the planet and for his latest collection, African Studies, he travelled across the continent taking photos from above. He spoke to the BBC's Mary Harper.
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Read MoreBy Gege Li
New Scientist
These arresting images of industrial developments in Senegal, South Africa and Namibia were taken by Edward Burtynsky, who spent four years capturing African landscapes using aerial photography.
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