Manufactured Landscapes

[Kirk Gittings]

We are the worst infestation the planet has ever seen.

[davidb]

I just got home from seeing this movie and it is rather good.

He lets the imagery do the talking.

[Daniel_Buck]

Would this movie be a good watch for someone who isn't a big 'save the whales' type guy?

Although I'm really in love with landscape shooting (both completely natural, or habited/altered by man), I'm not big into earth conservation. By that I mean I don't actively participate in, or donate to conservation movements or practices. I do disagree with blatant waste dumping and earth disruption, like strip cutting. However, I drive a blown mustang, haha! I do walk to work though. :-)

I don't mean to start any conversations about this, only reason I'm bringing it up is because I want to know if this movie would be a good buy for me? I don't want to buy something I'm not going to enjoy watching.

Would it be a good by for me? Or should I skip it? I haven't heard of it till just now.

[davidb]

I think it is on Netflix. I would recommend seeing it before buying it.

It isn't exactly a happy movie. It is a movie about the landscape of China and it doesn't paint (or make) a pretty picture.

And I do think we are wrecking the world. We pollute the water to the point of not being able to drink it.

Sorry...

[Greg Lockrey]

The "price" we pay to have people.

[Robbie Shymanski]

Kirk, I highly suggest you go read "The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman. It will either make you feel better or worse. Interesting all the same. It will make you never want to use plastic ever again.

[paulr]

Would this movie be a good watch for someone who isn't a big 'save the whales' type guy?

do you have to agree with someone to get something out of a documentary about them?

[r.e.]

The documentary was first aired a year ago when it won an award at the Toronto International Film Festival, which is held every September. In fact, the 2007 festival finished a few days ago.

This is something that I wrote on photo.net about a talk that Burtynsky gave during his exhibit at the National Gallery of Canada during the winter of 2003, during his project in China: http://photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=004ZHb It was more than a talk, he gave the people who attended a tour of the exhibit, and he was happy to answer questions. As far as I could see, I was the only person present who was involved in large format photography, so I bided my time until the end of the tour. I didn't want to ask anything in public that sounded really geeky. When the tour was over, we spent about 10 minutes talking about technical and logistical issues, and a bit about the business of photography and Image Works. He is a very impressive guy.

I mention this earlier post because it may shed a little light on some of the questions being raised in this thread.

I was kind of disappointed in the documentary. It's OK, but I don't think that it really captures what he is about, at least based on my impressions from the tour that he gave that day and the short time that I was able to spend talking with him. Maybe if I hadn't met him, I'd think that the documentary is more than OK.

[gregstidham]

Would this movie be a good watch for someone who isn't a big 'save the whales' type guy?

You might want to skip seeing Manufactured Landscapes. It might make you feel guilty or question your lifestyle choices. I would suggest sticking with mainstream Hollywood cinema instead.

[Darryl Baird]

Burtynsky is coming to speak at our MWSPE (MidWest Society for Photographic Education) conference in Flint, Michigan on November 9th. We plan to run the film after his talk. If you're interested in attending the conference called "A River Runs Through Us: Engaged Documentary Practice," check out the registration and schedule.

We are also hosting John Ganis' work in the University's gallery.