Photographer Edward Burtynsky captures beauty in destruction

Edward Burtynsky, internationally renowned for his large-scale photographs that illustrate the impact of human industry on the planet, says the goal of his art has always been to evoke a sense of wonder and curiosity.

Burtynsky was invited to Concordia on January 22 as part of the university’s 50th anniversary to deliver the annual Wild Talks lecture. Photos from the event can be viewed on Flickr.

In his sold-out talk, delivered before an audience of 650 guests in the Sir George Williams University Alumni Auditorium, Burtynsky discussed the evolution of his celebrated career with moderator Zoë Tousignant, BFA 03, PhD 13, curator of photography at the McCord Stewart Museum.

Growing up in St. Catharines, Ont., Burtynsky spent his youth exploring nature. “You get a feeling that you are looking deep into geological time — that what you’re seeing along the shores is what was intended for the planet.”

When Burtynsky was 11 years old, his father purchased a collection of cameras and dark room equipment from a widow for $25 — tools that unknowingly launched Burtynsky’s career.

He studied at Toronto Metropolitan University, formerly Ryerson, and vividly recalls his first assignment: “To photograph evidence of man.”

He decided to take the perspective of an alien looking at what humans were doing to the planet. His art history classes prompted him to see a blank canvas as he looked through the lens, filling the frame like a painter.

Following his 1982 graduation, Burtynsky focused on the impact of mining, forestry and farming — “By far the most transformative activity by humans on the natural world,” he said. 

He was determined to produce large-format colour images “in excruciating detail” — even though he recognized there was no commercial demand at that time and despite his mother asking, “Who is going to buy those pictures?”

While his magnificent, colourful images were projected behind him during his talk, Burtynsky explained his choice. “There’s something more compelling about photographing human-altered landscape,” he said, adding a lesson he learned from The Masters he studied in school was “to be relevant in his time.”