Edward Burtynsky is a photographer who specializes in capturing the modern economy and its impact across the globe. With these pictures, we can actually see what resource extraction looks like.
Oil Fields in McKittrick, California (2002):
Oil fields in Belridge, California (2002):
Westar Open Pit Coal Mine in Sparwood, British Columbia (1985):
Anaconda copper Mine in Butte, Montana (1985):
Kennecott Copper Mine in Bingham Valley, Utah (1983):
Mt. Whaleback in Newman, Western Australia (2007):
Silver Lake Operations at Lake Lefroy, Western Australia (2007):
Three pictures of the run-off from a nickel mine in Sudbury, Ontario (1996):
Look for more posts about Burtynsky’s photography to come.
4 Comments
Amazing, appalling pictures. These will be really useful in my environmental soc class. Thanks!
The photographs are so awesome, they’re strangely beautiful.
The idea does reminds me of this photo taken in not-so-happy, Happy Valley, Canada. Not resource extraction but resource excretion.
Nice.
Are there any pictures in this collection that capture the positive impacts of modern economy across the globe? I’m sure there are some.
Andy,
In the documentary about him, Manufactured Landscapes, Burtynsky says he tries to remain morally neutral and let people take from the images what they want. You can click on the link in the post and see lots of his pictures and decide for yourself.
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