"This week’s image comes from the Lens post “Artful, Aerial Views of Humanity’s Impact,” featuring the photography of Edward Burtynsky. The title of the photograph is: “Cerro Prieto Geothermal Power Station in Baja, Mexico. 2012.”
Jonathan Blaustein, the author of the Lens article, writes about Mr. Burtynsky’s motivation behind his newest project focusing on water:
There were 2.5 billion people in the world when Edward Burtynsky was born in the late 1950s. Now, there are seven billion and counting.
“That’s literally a billion in every decade, so I started recognizing that human enterprise was expanding like a rogue species,” Mr. Burtynsky said during a recent interview at the Carlyle Hotel’s tearoom. “I gave myself the view of the outsider, with the ability to look at the systems we need to employ to support the basic mammalian biomass of seven billion people.”
That initial realization is at the root of his artistic exploration, leading Mr. Burtynsky, a Canadian photographer, to “start looking at what the effect is of that amount of life bearing down on all the existing resources, whether it’s farmland, oceans, fish and all the protein that we get through the animal food chain.” He has spent the last several decades photographing how humans degrade the earth, as they mine, drill, pump and drain in a relentless quest for resources and riches.
“I don’t see myself as a card-carrying activist at all, but I do see myself as an advocate or a concerned citizen for sustainability,” Mr. Burtynsky said. “I see that we’re stretching the boundaries and limits of what we can do in nature, without it starting to bite back. It’s starting to, but I don’t think it’s given us a really bad bite yet.”
His newest project looks at water, the most vital resource we have, and the multiple ways it is employed in the 21st century.
By the way, the Cerro Prieto Geothermal Power Station is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the distinction of being the “most powerful geothermal power station.”
You can see more of Mr. Burtynsky’s water photographs on his website." New York Times 11.19.13
Jonathan Blaustein, the author of the Lens article, writes about Mr. Burtynsky’s motivation behind his newest project focusing on water:
There were 2.5 billion people in the world when Edward Burtynsky was born in the late 1950s. Now, there are seven billion and counting.
“That’s literally a billion in every decade, so I started recognizing that human enterprise was expanding like a rogue species,” Mr. Burtynsky said during a recent interview at the Carlyle Hotel’s tearoom. “I gave myself the view of the outsider, with the ability to look at the systems we need to employ to support the basic mammalian biomass of seven billion people.”
That initial realization is at the root of his artistic exploration, leading Mr. Burtynsky, a Canadian photographer, to “start looking at what the effect is of that amount of life bearing down on all the existing resources, whether it’s farmland, oceans, fish and all the protein that we get through the animal food chain.” He has spent the last several decades photographing how humans degrade the earth, as they mine, drill, pump and drain in a relentless quest for resources and riches.
“I don’t see myself as a card-carrying activist at all, but I do see myself as an advocate or a concerned citizen for sustainability,” Mr. Burtynsky said. “I see that we’re stretching the boundaries and limits of what we can do in nature, without it starting to bite back. It’s starting to, but I don’t think it’s given us a really bad bite yet.”
His newest project looks at water, the most vital resource we have, and the multiple ways it is employed in the 21st century.
By the way, the Cerro Prieto Geothermal Power Station is in the Guinness Book of World Records for the distinction of being the “most powerful geothermal power station.”
You can see more of Mr. Burtynsky’s water photographs on his website." New York Times 11.19.13