The Modern House
Edward Burtynsky has been investigating natural landscapes for over 35 years, producing sweeping views of environments transformed by industry. In the collaboration with British Journal of Photography, here, the photographer discusses his approach.
His collaborative, multidisciplinary body of work, The Anthropocene Project, is influenced by the proposed new geologic era – ‘Anthropocene’ – a concept popularised in 2000 by the late chemist and Nobel Prize winner Paul Jozef Crutzen, representing a formal acknowledgement of the “human signature” on Earth. Working alongside filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier, Burtynsky travelled to 20 countries over a period of five years, photographing altercations such as the lithium mines of Chile’s Atacama desert, the psychedelic potash ores of Russia’s Ural Mountains, and the effects of oil bunkering in the Niger Delta.
Read the full article here.
Read MoreBy Mathieu Sly
NGC Magazine
This year 22 April is both Earth Day and Throw Back Thursday, so it is an ideal opportunity to reflect back upon a powerful exhibition presented at the National Gallery of Canada in 2018: Anthropocene. When I came to see the exhibition, it was as a visitor and I had not done any research, showing up instead with the approach “What are we doing today?” I was immediately confronted with images of a world seen from above, and this world was being consumed by our appetites – by my appetites. Although these images clearly left an imprint on my mind, I all too quickly slid back into the distractions of normal life. That is, until our current global health crisis.
Anthropocene presented works by the collective of Canadian artists comprising photographer Edward Burtynsky and filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal and Nicholas de Pencier. These striking images, videos and augmented-reality sculptures invited reflection on the ethics of humanity’s exploitation of Earth’s resources. As the exhibition’s co-curator Sophie Hackett commented, we were “confronted with a world we inhabit but cannot easily see.” The artists captured it in such a way that we could see. And how could the viewer not pause when looking at these images?
Read the full article here.
Read MoreChristie’s
To celebrate Earth Day, we showcase eight contemporary artists using their work to advance environmental issues
With the rise of Greta Thunberg, increasing talk of a ‘green recovery’ from Covid-19, and the COP26 conference now just months away, the climate crisis has never been more of a talking point. Among those calling for action before it’s too late are some of the world’s leading contemporary artists. Here, we look at eight who are using their practice to spotlight the environment, tackle the urgency of climate change, and champion sustainability.
Read the full article here.
Read MoreBy Anqi Shen
University Affairs
Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky is donating a portion of his work, spanning nearly five decades of his career, to Ryerson University. Some of his early images, selected by Mr. Burtynsky himself, are now featured in a virtual public gallery through the Ryerson Image Centre (RIC), while prints and materials from later years are in the process of being curated.
The 65-year-old photographer is internationally renowned for his large-scale landscapes depicting the impact of human industry on nature and the effects of climate change. While the collection at the RIC includes images that embody his iconic style, it also considers some of his earlier works that had a personal dimension, says the RIC’s director, Paul Roth.
Read the full article here.
Read MoreBy Bill Gates
Financial Times
Illustrated with photographs by Edward Burtynsky
Read the full article here.
Read MoreHE Art Museum
How did you illustrate the contrast between the spectacular landscape and the scattered vehicles and buildings in your work Highland Valley #8? What message are you trying to deliver?
Edward Burtynsky: The shot was created by working closely with a helicopter pilot, flying tight circles above the pit at the right distance. I wanted to convey the contemporary scale of copper mining and this was a mine that I’d originally photographed in 1983 before I was using aerial photography, and it had increased dramatically over the years since. As is consistent throughout much of my work, I try to connect the viewer to the places in the world where we get the materials that allow us to live a contemporary life. Like copper for computers, nickel to create stainless steel etc.
Read the full interview here.
Read MoreOn December 2, recent Ryerson graduate Cole LeGree chats with Ismaila and reflects on the donation of Burtynsky’s early archives to the Ryerson Image Centre.
Read MoreCBC Radio - As it Happens
Edward Burtynsky sees the world from a different vantage point than most of us — quite literally. The St. Catharines, Ont.-born photographer has spent decades taking bird's-eye-view shots of tailings ponds, sawmills, potash mines, and garbage dumps.
But long before those shots from the air, he was taking photographs at ground level in Toronto as a student at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, now Ryerson University. This week, Burtynsky gifted 142 of those early photographs to his alma mater.
It's the first instalment of his multi-year donation to Ryerson, where he began his career in the late 1970s.
He spoke to As It Happens host Carol Off about how a school assignment at Ryerson got him hooked on capturing how humans were bending nature to their needs. Here's part of their conversation.
Listen to the full segment here.
Read MoreBy Kate Taylor
The Globe & Mail
Canadian artist Edward Burtynsky is donating his archives to his old school, including even his student assignments. The Ryerson Image Centre announced Tuesday that the celebrated photographer is making a multiyear gift to the institution where he began his career in the 1970s, studying at the School of Image Arts at what is now Ryerson University. The gift will be made in several chronological parcels. The first part features 142 images made between 1976 and 1989, most not represented in public collections. These include early photographs of landscapes and city scenes submitted to his Ryerson photography instructors before Burtynsky achieved renown as a photographer of large-scale industrial landscapes. Later photographs of architecture and manufacturing include this image Holland Marsh, Ontario from the series Packing.
Read the full article here.
Read MoreNovember 24, 2020, Toronto — The Ryerson Image Centre (RIC) is proud to announce a multi-year donation of photographs by celebrated Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky, whose iconic images have brought worldwide attention to the impacts of human industry on the natural landscape. The first installment of this gift comprises 142 photographs from the artist’s early career, a selection of which have been made public in a virtual gallery on the RIC’s website. Subsequent annual gifts will make the Toronto-based photography centre the most important global repository for the study of Burtynsky’s oeuvre.
Edward Burtynsky began his career in the late 1970s at the School of Image Arts of Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Ryerson University). "It was important to me that my life’s work be housed in a Canadian institution, and it felt like a fitting 'homecoming' to entrust these works to the same place where I first developed as a photographer,” Burtynsky says. “The Ryerson Image Centre has become one of the leading museums in the world for photo historical research and has a growing collection of artist archives. I realized that there was no place I would rather have my work preserved and studied.”
Read the full press release here.
Read MoreBy Sue Carter
Toronto Star
Edward Burtynsky gifting his archives to the Ryerson Image Centre marks a circular journey for one of the world’s most esteemed contemporary photographers.
The downtown university has just announced the first instalment of his multi-year donation to its photographic gallery and research facility. It features 142 photos from Burtynsky’s early career, created between 1976 and 1989. Subsequent annual donations, to span three to five years, will add more chronological works from his five-plus decades of visually documenting how so-called human progress and industrial spread have environmentally devastated the planet.
As a young student from nearby suburban St. Catharines, Burtynsky was exposed to groundbreaking ideas at the School of Image Arts at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Ryerson University) in the late 1970s and early ’80s. Along with art classes, Burtynsky studied sociology, psychology and film. He felt encouraged to take risks with his photography, thanks to energized faculty members such as Marta Braun, whom he credits with teaching him art history.
Read the full article here.
Read MoreBy Lucy Davies
RPS Journal
He is renowned for ambitious images that expose humanity’s impact on the natural world. Here the Honorary Fellow describes one of his most difficult shoots yet.
Read the full article here.
Read MoreRPS Journal
Acclaimed for his majestic views of our fragile planet, this renowned photographer has stared deeply into the natural world during lockdown.
Read the full article (pg. 694) in the November/December issue here.
Read MoreBloomberg Markets
Edward Burtynsky, Canadian photographer, joins BNN Bloomberg to talk about how the pandemic has impacted urban communities. He says that it will be complicated to see the future of cities as many people have moved away from urban centres with remote work amid the pandemic.
Watch the segment here.
Read MoreWe are delighted to announce the 2020 recipients of the Royal Photographic Society Awards, celebrating excellence and innovation in photography.
Now in its 142nd year, the eighteen categories recognise those individuals who have made outstanding contributions in their fields which cover art, science, education, curation, film and publishing.
“The RPS Awards are unique in recognising individuals across the breadth of the photographic medium. They acknowledge significant contributions from established women and men as well as showcasing a new generation of image-makers using photography as a vehicle for activism, engagement and change.”
– Dr Michael Pritchard FRPS, Director of Education and Public Affairs
Congratulations to all the recipients. Read a special edition of the RPS Journal, explore our new series of events with past and present recipients beginning January 2021, and find out more about the Awards here →
Read MoreFuture Cities Canada
A Conversation with Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky and Globe & Mail visual art critic Kate Taylor kicks off the first week of Future Cities Canada: #UnexpectedSolutions, a six-week virtual city-building gathering showcasing the best-of in innovation in cities from across Canada and around the world. The free public talk takes place on Tuesday, October 20, 2020 at 10 a.m. and is the first of three new thought-provoking conversations presented as part of the TD Future Cities Speaker Series, a program supported by TD Bank Group through its corporate citizenship platform, The Ready Commitment. Launched in 2018, this series presents ideas from some of the world’s leading minds in urban systems; this year’s topics explore themes ranging from climate adaptability and placemaking to housing and infrastructure.
Read the full press release here.
Register for free here.
Read MoreThe Pictet Group
Found In Conversation (Podcast)
Can photography encourage sustainability? In this episode Renaud de Planta, Pictet’s Senior Managing Partner, explores the power of the image with Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky, who has dedicated his life to documenting the impact of economies on the environment. This special episode is hosted by Isabelle von Ribbentrop, the Pictet Group’s Global Head of Branding, Advertising and Sponsoring.
Listen to the episode here.
Read MoreMetivier Gallery
Toronto, ON
On September 24, Edward Burtynsky and Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director & Co-Head at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), spoke at the Nicholas Metivier Gallery on the subject of Burtynsky's Natural Order exhibition and the importance of his documentary film work.
Read MoreGalleries West
Edward Burtynsky has travelled the globe photographing dramatic scenes of environmental change – a massive dam project in China, a stark lithium mine in Chile, a polluted ship-breaking site on the coast of Bangladesh.
But the pandemic’s mandatory lockdown last spring saw the Toronto photographer retreat to the woods of the Bruce Peninsula along the southern shore of Georgian Bay.
It was here, during the uncertainty and devastating losses wrought by another global traveller, the new coronavirus that's hitching a ride on human carriers, that Burtynsky created a series of photographs that speak to nature’s power of renewal.
Read the full article here.
Read MoreMetivier Gallery
Toronto, ON
On September 15 Edward Burtynsky and Marta Braun, F+PPCM Program Director at Ryerson University School of Image Arts, sat down at the Nicholas Metivier Gallery in Toronto to discuss Burtynsky’s latest body of work, Natural Order.
Read More