Manufactured Landscapes: The Photographs of Edward Burtynsky FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Over the past twenty-five years, the Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky has been an explorer of unfamiliar places where industrial activity has reshaped the surface of the land. His surveys of the man-made terrain of quarrying, mining, railcutting, recycling, oil refining, and shipbreaking remind us that these incursions into the earth arise out of perennial human needs and desires. Burtynsky's photographs may show us things that are disturbing, but they also have about them an unexpected beauty, subverting our usual notions of the sublime in nature and leading us to a new awareness of the landscape of our times." Manufactured Landscapes, organized by the National Gallery of Canada, is the first major retrospective of Edward Burtynsky's work. This fully illustrated catalogue of the exhibition includes essays by Lori Pauli, Mark Haworth-Booth, and Kenneth Baker, and an interview with the artist by Michael Torosian.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
Internationally known for his photographs documenting the effect of industrialization on the environment, Burtynsky provokes his viewers to contemplate the world he shoots. Published in conjunction with the first major retrospective of Burtynksy's work, this book requires more than a quick flip through the pages. At first one is dazzled by the color and apparent fluidity in the landscapes that he captures, but on deeper examination one begins to realize that these are quarry mines, oil refining factories, and recycling centers. It's hard then not to think of what one might have done as a consumer to contribute to the formation of these images. Have my old cars gone to the recycling center that is loaded with so many old cars that they look like sardines in a can? Not your typical coffee-table book, this comes with a social and environmental message that should not be ignored. Essays by three curator/critics and an interview with the artist complement the 64 large-scale color images. Recommended for academic libraries and large art photo collections. [The retrospective will appear at the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2004 and the Brooklyn Museum of Art in Fall 2005.-Ed.]-Sheila Devaney, Univ. of Georgia Libs., Athens Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
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