Wild Talks Lecture Series with Edward Burtynsky

Edward Burtynsky is widely considered one of the most accomplished contemporary photographers in the world. His extraordinary photographic portrayals of industrial landscapes reflect over 40 years of commitment to documenting the human impact on the planet. Burtynsky’s work is featured in the collections of more than 80 major museums across the globe. He has received numerous accolades, including the 2022 Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award from the World Photography Organization. That same year, he was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame and honoured with the annual Pollution Probe Award. 

Burtynsky played a significant role in the production of The Anthropocene Trilogy, which includes Manufactured Landscapes (directed by Jennifer Baichwal, 2006), Watermark (directed by Baichwal and Burtynsky, 2013) and ANTHROPOCENE: The Human Epoch (directed by Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier and Burtynsky, 2018). These films continue to be showcased at festivals worldwide. Additionally, Burtynsky currently holds nine honorary doctorate degrees.

Zoë Tousignant is a photography historian specializing in the photographic work produced in Quebec and Canada. Born and raised in Montreal, she has been involved in the city’s art and photography communities for over two decades. She has previously served as the associate curator of photography at the McCord Museum and as a curator at Artexte. Additionally, she has worked for several years as an independent curator. Her curatorial projects have featured close collaborations with photographers such as Serge Clément, Carlos Ferrand, Marisa Portolese and Gabor Szilasi.

Zoë Tousignant holds a PhD in Art History from Concordia University and an MA in Museum Studies from the University of Leeds in the UK. Her doctoral research focused on the use of photography in popular illustrated magazines published in Montreal and Toronto during the interwar period.

She believes the McCord Museum’s photography collection provides a fantastic opportunity to engage with the medium in all its facets — art, propaganda, memorial devices, social documentation, scientific data and more. For her, the collection itself is evidence of how the history of photography should be written.

Annie Gérin holds a PhD in the History of Art and Cultural Studies from the University of Leeds, a Master of Art History from York University and a BA in Art History from the Université de Montréal. As an accomplished administrator, she has held multiple roles at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). Gérin served as the interim dean of the Faculté des arts from 2019 to 2020, was the associate dean of research and research-creation from 2018 to 2019, and was the Département d’histoire de l’art chair from 2013 to 2016. 

Earlier in her career, Gérin was a faculty member in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Regina from 2000 to 2004, and at the University of Ottawa from 2004 to 2006. She is fluent in English, French, and Russian, and has published extensively. Gérin is well known for her research on Canadian and Soviet art in the 20th and 21st centuries, focusing on visual satire, cultural policy, public art and community-based practices. Additionally, her work has received continued funding for individual and collaborative research projects from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Société et Culture.