Mines and Australian Mines
Canada www.edwardburtynsky.com
In Burtynsky’s images, it is the insatiable human appetite for the world’s raw materials that is of primary interest. Scarred landscapes become poetic evidence of resources spent, nature transformed as well as realised―or failed―hopes and dreams. The aerial images of the Silver Lake Operations at Lake Lefroy and of the pits and tailings at Kalgoorlie, along with the Dampier Salt Ponds are among the most handsome that Burtynsky has ever made. They combine a kind of mapping with a keenly felt experience of all the hard rock grit, dust and labour transforming these arid lands.
Edward Burtynsky is one of Canada’s most respected photographers. His remarkable photographs of industrialised landscapes are included in the collections of over sixty museums around the world, including: the National Gallery of Canada, the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, The Tate Modern, London, National Gallery of Art and Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., the Reina Sofia, Madrid, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Edward’s distinctions include the TED Prize, The Outreach award at the Rencontres d’Arles, The Flying Elephant Fellowship, and the Roloff Beny Book award. In 2006 he was awarded the title Officer of the Order of Canada, in 2016 the Governor General of Canada Award for Visual Arts. He is the recipient of six honorary doctorate degrees.