Ed Burtynsky

[Martin Courtenay-Blake]

I had never really been a fan of Burtynsky's work, feeling it was a sort of large format record making, until last night. Here in good ole Blighty we were treated to an hour long documentary on the man and his working methods. I was transfixed. He worked with total professional calm with an obvious empathy with the human subjects. The program concentrated on big industrial sites in China and India, particularly ship building and demolition. The photographs were sublime and, to me, superb, especially as it was a HD broadcast. Definately a convert.

[Dan Henderson]

An Ed Burtynsky exhibit is ongoing at the Taubman Museum of Art here in Roanoke, Virginia USA.

[r.e.]

Hah! Do a search on this site and you'll find that the attacks on Burtynsky are exceeded only by the attacks on Jeff Wall.

The documentary that you are talking about was made after Burtynsky made the photos about ship demolition and when he was in the process of his China project.

[Ed Bray]

If it is the same one that I have watched a couple of times this month (on my sky box) I do have to applaud how the video shows a cropped image and then pans out to show how small the original crop was compared to the full image and how insignificant the people or objects seem when viewed in its entirety.

Some of the ship demolishion images are amazing, as are the images of the Chinese recycling waste.

[r.e.]

The ship demolition photographs were made in Bangladesh, not India, because the Indian government prevented Burtynsky from photographing the area where that work took place.

If you see the full size ship demolition prints, the people not only don't look insignificant, they capture your attention. He used an 8x10 camera to make those photos, and all of the people in them are blurred because they are working and therefore moving.

For the China series, he moved for practical reasons to 4x5.

[Ari]

Is there anywhere to find this documentary online? Thx

[Drew Wiley]

I still find his work pretentious - pandering to the Museum mentality, with sterotypical
blaaah C-prints reminiscent of 70's artsy-fartsy types. Composition-wise he has a lot to
offer, but it just falls flat for me because the actual prints are so weak.

[Darin Boville]

The film is called "Manufactured Landscapes" and whatever you think of his work the film is worth seeing. It's on iTunes for rent or purchase. Heck, just the opening scene is worth the price. Highly recommended.

--Darin

[r.e.]

Info on the documentary: http://onf-nfb.gc.ca/eng/collection/film/?id=54796

[Frank_E]

I still find his work pretentious - pandering to the Museum mentality, with sterotypical
blaaah C-prints reminiscent of 70's artsy-fartsy types. Composition-wise he has a lot to
offer, but it just falls flat for me because the actual prints are so weak.

Your observation demonstrates the perspective "to each his own". Burtynsky either owns or is part owner of one of the major printing houses in Toronto (Toronto Image Works) and that shop does some good work. I have seen Burtynsky's work displayed in numerous exhibitionss and always liked the prints. My opinion is that he has a lot of talent. There is no question that he caters to the "museum mentality" but that doesn't bother me...