i came across his work in the same ‘changing circumstances’ book. it has been such an inspirational book in informing my essay and work, showing me the potential of photography when it comes to environmental matters. This artist isn’t only a photographer but also a film maker, with all his work extending from environmental issues and the anthropocene. Similarly to Gina Glover, he also produced a project named ‘anthropocene’. Other project titles include oil, mines, water, quarries etc. showing a strong link between human actions and the environmental landscape within his work. One of the most interesting aspects of this project, aside from his creative, aesthetically pleasing images, was the artist’s statement. “Our planet has borne witness to five great extinction events, and these have been prompted by a variety of causes: a colossal meteor impact, massive volcanic eruptions, and oceanic cyanobacteria activity that generated a deadly toxicity in the atmosphere. These were the naturally occurring phenomena governing life’s ebb and flow. Now it is becoming clear that humankind, with its population explosion, industry, and technology, has in a very short period of time also become an agent of immense global change. Arguably, we are on the cusp of becoming (if we are not already) the perpetrators of a sixth major extinction event”
his images throughout each project, hold a strong link in representing human impacts on the landscape, even without their physical presence. He seemingly takes his photographs from more of an arial view, so viewers can grasp the sheer scale of our man-made adaptations. They each truly represent our destruction of natural beauty, while still being aesthetically beautiful photographs. He has seemingly devoted his work to raising concern about our future and where we are headed.“I have always been concerned to show how we affect the Earth in a big way” His intention is to help nurture a growing environmental debate. “I hope to bring the audience to an awareness of the normally unseen result of civilisation’s cumulative impact upon the planet”. It is easy to separate yourself from what is happening in the world due to our behaviours, if you don’t experience it directly yourself. Burtynsky therefore, first-handedly photographs the suffering of nature and how we have caused this; the changing of natural water flows, deep depleted holes in the earth, oil spills and man-made obstructive landscapes. An interesting, inspirational and well-informed artist to include within my research and essay
