Hannah Rosales Reviews Edward Burtynsky

Burtynsky is a Canadian photographer who received his BAA in Photography/Media Studies from Ryerson University in 1982. He also founded a darkroom rental facility, custom photo laboratory, digital imaging and new media computer-training centre called Toronto Image Works in 1985. It accommodates all of Toronto's art community. He has photographs in over sixty museums all over the world including the Tate Modern in London and the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid.

His work investigates our environment and how humans treat the earth's surface. "..an inspection of the human systems we've imposed onto natural landscapes."

Surprisingly, Burtynsky did not alter the photographs in any way. The orange color is natural. He states, "But in the deep view a retrospective exhibition provides, we can see clearly that he is not given to aesthetic manipulations for their own sake, nor even for emotional effect, such as the elegiac splendour Robert Bourdeau achieves by toning his images of industrial ruin."

The two photographs I am comparing are of the same subject matter but are strikingly different. One photograph depicts the orange river as a bold object, coming off very smoothly. However, in another photograph, the orange river is veiny, and spreads out throughout the earth's surface.