Edward "Ted" Burtynsky's photos show us the ugly result of our industrial times. The genius of his work, however, is that, from a visual standpoint, Burtynsky's photos aren't ugly.
A few photos from a series Burtynsky did about oil.
Here's a link to that whole series courtesy of the Corcoran Gallery.
After seeing photos such as this one, I'm surprised that people seem to think that drilling for oil has no harmful effects on the environment.
Relatively cheap oil has allowed us to travel great distances with ease, it has allowed us to live like kings, but, as you can see here, it has also resulted in enormous amounts of waste.
Even the infrastructure that we're currently using doesn't provide us with an efficient use of our time, materials, or energy itself.
Boom and bust cycles are an inherent part of economies like ours that are based on the consumption of extracted resources like oil. This is one of a number of abandoned plants in Detroit.
1 comment:
Pretty amazing photos. Burtynsky's book should be required reading for anyone thinking about purchasing a new car. It may not affect sales, but it might encourage folks to drive a little less.
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