Edward Burtynsky

Burtynsky is a Canadian photographer whose work depicts natural landscapes altered by industry; among the works which treat this theme are photos of mines, ships and ship-making, an industrializing China, and oil, the subject of his latest photo-book. The following is a picture from his China collection which depicts the dizzying urbanization of Shanghai; almost nothing natural remains in the vast expanse of drab high-rises.



Burtynsky acknowledges the inherent tension between the themes he treats and his ability to do his work: without modern industrial advances, he wouldn't be able to travel to the places he does.