The Great Acceleration: Human-Altered Industrial Landscapes, with Edward Burtynsky

Industrial expansion has left an indelible mark on our natural world, fundamentally altering landscapes and ecosystems for the sake of material progress and modern convenience. This transformation has created an environmental challenge of unprecedented scale. In today’s show, we’ll connect the dots between the raw materials that make up our planet and the industrial forces visually altering our contemporary landscape in a chat with a photographer who’s documented these profound global changes firsthand for the past 50 years.

Applying visual principals rooted in abstract expressionist painting, Edward Burtynsky has explored a wide range of photographic tools in his image making—from large format film to high-res digital cameras mounted to the most sophisticated of drones.

Included among our many discussion topics are his distinctive approach to translating a 3-D landscape to the flat plane of a photograph; his various methods for capturing aerials using either a helicopter, fixed wing aircraft, or various types of drones; and the early business epiphany that led him to open a photo lab as an income stream, rather than work as a camera for hire.

As Burtynsky shares during our chat, about the connection between nature and industry: “You know, materials are an incredibly key part of modern society. And yet we need to go to sources in nature, where these materials are found. And I'm just reconnecting a reality that we still live in a material world, and our cities are built of molecules that came from somewhere, and I’m taking you to those places that are vast and huge.”

Guest: Edward Burtynsky

Episode Timeline:

• 2:58: Burtynsky’s early interest in abstract expressionist painting combined with the magic and rituals of composing images with a large format camera
• 5:28: Planning for aerial views, the shift from using a minerals map in the past to Google Earth today, plus Burtynsky’s shooting preferences between a helicopter and a drone and shooting open air.
• 10:22: Burtynsky’s approach to translating a 3-D landscape to the flat plane of a photograph.
• 17:17: The planning and research behind Burtynsky’s work vs the need to pivot in the field.
• 19:45: Adapting to technology over a 50-year career, and how it’s shaped Burtynsky’s process—from large format film to high end digital on a drone.
• 23:16: Episode Break
• 23:59: <