Edward Burtynsky: Essential Elements

By (author) Ewing William A.
Short description/annotation
Edward Burtynsky (b 1955) is one of a generation of photographers, who seek to portray the visible outcomes of a globalized economy and humankind''s impact upon environments around the world. This book provides an overview of Burtynsky''s work across four decades, including both iconic images and previously unpublished photographs.
Description
Edward Burtynsky (b. 1955) is one of a generation of photographers, including Andreas Gursky and Thomas Struth, who seek to portray the visible outcomes of a globalized economy and humankind’s impact upon environments around the world. He has achieved global recognition with his large-scale photographs and project-based monographs, such as Quarries , Oil and Water , all of which have resulted in popular touring exhibitions and, in the case of Water , a feature-length documentary film entitled Watermark . However, while Burtynsky’s global standing is without question, no comprehensive retrospective of his career to date exists.
Edited and curated by William A. Ewing, Edward Burtynsky: Essential Elements provides an overview of Burtynsky’s work across four decades, including both iconic images and previously unpublished photographs. It dissolves previous project-based definitions to set out Burtynsky’s oeuvre as five free-flowing sections that provide a sense of both his visual language and his exploration of the dilemmas at the heart of our globalized world. Each of the five sections is interleaved with a selection of texts from previous publications and articles on Burtynsky that work in concert with the photographs to provide a complete understanding of Burtynsky’s view of the world.
With an introduction by William A. Ewing and an essay by Joshua Schuster, this book provides both an entirely new way of seeing Burtynsky’s work for those who already follow his career and an accessible introduction for those encountering his photographs for the first time
Table of contents
Introduction: William A. Ewing • Plates I: Excerpts I • Plates II: Excerpts II • Plates III: Excerpts III • Plates IV: Excerpts IV • Plates V • Unearthing Photography: Joshua Schuster
Review quote
''Rarely do we have the opportunity to absorb the sheer scale of our impact on the earth… what we have is the ''contemplative moment'' - images that require time and thought to truly absorb what it is we''re seeing'' - Amateur Photographer
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''Beautiful to behold'' - What Digital Camera
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''A beautiful anthology of Burtynsky’s work. This is much more than just a coffee table book'' - GQ
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''Awesome'' - Guardian
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''That attention to detail – the detail where both the humanity and the devil are to be found – is the key to these gorgeous, terrible images, and the heart of the Burtynsky Paradox: you can’t look away; you have to keep looking in'' - Robert Shore, Elephant magazine
Biographical note
William A. Ewing has been an author, lecturer, curator of photography and museum director for more than forty years. His many publications on photography include The Body, Landmark and Edward Burtynsky: Essential Elements, all published by Thames & Hudson.
Promotional headline
A major new retrospective of one of the world’s most acclaimed contemporary art photographers featuring both iconic images and previously unpublished photographs