La Dolce Vita: Edward Burtynsky

Edward Burtynsky

Edward Burtynsky is an artist as well as a photographer that is highly recognized and respected in Canada. He is known as one of Canada's most respected photographers and is praised for his photographs of industrialization landscapes that are displayed in several museums throughout the world. Growing up, Burtynsky attended college at Niagara College in Canada where he studied photography as well as graphic arts. Through his photography, Burtynsky tries to depict the relationship between industry and nature. Burtynsky does an excellent job at capturing the concept of consumption.

Densified Oil Filters, 2005

Burtynsky's photography explores subjects such as mining, quarrying, oil production, recycling, and many more industrialized concepts. His photographs are taken on a large formatted field camera that is developed in high resolution. When photographing, he tends to get an ariel view, which intensifies abstraction.

In Brtynsky's photography, he often does close ups to emphasize abstraction. In his picture Densified Oil Filters, he uses his close up technique to intensify the abstraction as well as make the viewer question what subject matter the picture is actually trying to portray. Also, he takes ariel views of landscapes which colors are unique and seem to stand out, but also the pictures are from so far away that they can be viewed as abstract.

Edward Burtynsky Documents Society's Waste

Silver Lake Operations #1, 2007

Burtynsky is recognized for many accomplishments including: the TED prize, the Outreach award at the Rencontres d’Arles, The Flying Elephant Fellowship, Applied Arts Magazine book award(s), and the Roloff Beny Book award. In 2006 he was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of Canada and given an honorary degree; Doctor of Laws, from Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.