F-Arty Friday: Ed Burtynsky, Fellow Canadian and Fabulous photographer

Edward Burtynsky’s work is inspired by global industrial landscapes. Through his lens, the scars people leave on this planet somehow look beautiful.













Nickel tailings in Sudbury, Ontario.

Burtynsky’s website notes that “he links his early exposure to the sites and images of the General Motors plant in his hometown to the development of his photographic work. His imagery explores the intricate link between industry and nature, combining the raw elements of mining, quarrying, manufacturing, shipping, oil production and recycling into eloquent, highly expressive visions that find beauty and humanity in the most unlikely of places.”

I’ve been a Burtynsky fan for years. I love the fact that his images not only astound me with their beauty, but inform me about the world. Through his art, I’ve learned about the politics behind the displacement of a million people during the flooding of the Yangtze river in China to create Three Gorges Dam.















I also learned about the dangerous work of the poorly paid workers in Bangladesh, who turn decommissioned oil tankers into scrap metal.














To me, the best art makes learning not only painless but fun.

Visit Burtynsky’s website to see what I mean. Better yet, rent Manufactured Landscapes, a fascinating documentary that follows the artist to China, where he studies the people, the factories and the stories behind Shanghai’s urban renewal.

*All photos from www.edwardburtynsky.com