ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Edward Burtynsky - Photographer
2005 TED Prize winner Edward Burtynsky has made it his life's work to document humanity's impact on the planet. His riveting photographs, as beautiful as they are horrifying, capture views of the Earth altered by mankind.

Why you should listen

To describe Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky's work in a single adjective, you have to speak French: jolie-laide. His images of scarred landscapes -- from mountains of tires to rivers of bright orange waste from a nickel mine -- are eerily pretty yet ugly at the same time. Burtynsky's large-format color photographs explore the impact of humanity's expanding footprint and the substantial ways in which we're reshaping the surface of the planet. His images powerfully alter the way we think about the world and our place in it.

With his blessing and encouragement, WorldChanging.com and others use his work to inspire ongoing global conversations about sustainable living. Burtynsky's photographs are included in the collections of over 50 museums around the world, including the Tate, London and the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim in New York City. A large-format book, 2003's Manufactured Landscapes, collected his work, and in 2007, a documentary based on his photography, also called Manufactured Landscapes, debuted at the Toronto Film Festival before going on to screen at Sundance and elsewhere. It was released on DVD in March 2007. In 2008, after giving a talk at the Long Now Foundation, Burtynsky proposed "The 10,000 Year Gallery," which could house art to be curated over thousands of years preserved through carbon transfers in an effort to reflect the attitudes and changes of the world over time. 

When Burtynsky accepted his 2005 TED Prize, he made three wishes. One of his wishes: to build a website that will help kids think about going green. Thanks to WGBH and the TED community, the show and site Meet the Greens debuted at TED2007. His second wish: to begin work on an Imax film, which morphed into the jaw-dropping film Manufactured Landscapes with Jennifer Baichwal. And his third wish, wider in scope, was simply to encourage "a massive and productive worldwide conversation about sustainable living." Thanks to his help and the input of the TED community, the site WorldChanging.com got an infusion of energy that has helped it to grow into a leading voice in the sustainability community.

In 2016, he won a Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts for his work.

More profile about the speaker
Edward Burtynsky | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2009

Edward Burtynsky: Photographing the landscape of oil

Edward Burtynsky pildistab naftamaastikke

Filmed:
550,970 views

Oma vapustavate suureformaadiliste fotode abil jälgib Edward Burtynsky nafta teekonda kaasaegses ühiskonnas - puurkaevust naftajuhtme ja automootorini ning sealt edasi kuni naftatootmise tipu ennustatava lõppmänguni.
- Photographer
2005 TED Prize winner Edward Burtynsky has made it his life's work to document humanity's impact on the planet. His riveting photographs, as beautiful as they are horrifying, capture views of the Earth altered by mankind. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
I startedalgas my journeyteekond 30 yearsaastaid agotagasi.
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Ma alustasin oma teekonda 30 aastat tagasi.
00:18
And I workedtöötanud in minesmiinid. And I realizedrealiseeritud that
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Ma töötasin kaevandustes. Ja sain aru,
00:20
this was a worldmaailm unseennähtamatu.
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et see on nähtamatu maailm.
00:22
And I wanted, throughläbi colorvärv and largesuur formatvormingus cameraskaamerad
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Ja ma tahtsin värvide ja suureformaadiliste kaamerate
00:24
and very largesuur printsprindib,
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ja ülisuurte väljatrükkide abil
00:26
to make a bodykeha of work that somehowkuidagi
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luua kogumi teoseid, mis on kuidagi
00:28
becamesai symbolssümbolid of our
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hakanud sümboliseerima
00:31
use of the landscapemaastik,
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meie maastike kasutamist;
00:33
how we use the landmaa.
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seda, kuidas me maad kasutame.
00:35
And to me this was
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Ja minu jaoks oli see
00:37
a keyvõti componentkomponent that somehowkuidagi, throughläbi this mediumkeskmine of photographyfotograafia,
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peamiseks, et kuidagi, läbi fotograafia kui meediumi,
00:40
whichmis allowslubab us to contemplatekaaluge these landscapesmaastikud,
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mis võimaldab meil neid maastikke vaadelda,
00:43
that I thought photographyfotograafia was perfectlysuurepäraselt suitedsobib
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ma mõtlesin, et fotograafia sobib täiuslikult
00:46
to doing this typetüüp of work.
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selle töö tegemiseks.
00:48
And after 17 yearsaastaid of photographingpildistamine largesuur industrialtööstuslik landscapesmaastikud,
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Pärast 17 aastat suurte tööstuslike maastike pildistamist
00:52
it occurredtoimunud to me that
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turgatas mulle pähe, et
00:54
oilõli is underpinningaluseid the scaleskaala and speedkiirus.
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nafta on aluseks mastaapidele ja kiirusele,
00:56
Because that is what has changedmuudetud,
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sest mis on muutunud, on just
00:58
is the speedkiirus at whichmis we're takingvõttes all our resourcesressursse.
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kiirus, millega oma loodusvarasid ammutame.
01:01
And so then I wentläksin out to developarenema a wholeterve seriesseeria
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Ja nii ma hakkasingi looma tervet seeriat
01:03
on the landscapemaastik of oilõli.
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naftamaastikest.
01:05
And what I want to do is to kindlaadi of mapkaart an arckaar
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Minu sooviks on justkui kaardistada see liin, mille
01:10
that there is extractionkaevandamine, where we're takingvõttes it from the groundmaa peal,
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ühes otsas on nafta ammutamine, kui võtame varusid maapinnast,
01:13
refinementtäpsustamist. And that's one chapterpeatükk.
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ja rafineerimine. See on üks peatükk.
01:15
The other chapterpeatükk that I wanted to look at was
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Teine peatükk, mida tahtsin vaadelda, oli see,
01:17
how we use it -- our citieslinnad,
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kuidas naftat kasutatakse meie linnades,
01:19
our carsautod, our motorculturesmotokultuurides,
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meie autodes, meie motokultuurides,
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where people gatherkoguma around the vehiclesõiduki
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kus inimesed kogunevad ümber sõiduki
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as a celebrationpidu.
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nagu peole.
01:27
And then the thirdkolmas one is this ideaidee of the endlõpp of oilõli,
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Ja kolmas on idee sellest, kuhu nafta lõpuks välja jõuab,
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this entropicentroopilisest endlõpp,
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selle entroopilisest lõpust,
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where all of our partsosad of carsautod, our tiresrehvid,
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kus on kõik meie auto-osad, rehvid,
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oilõli filtersfiltrid,
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õlifiltrid,
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helicoptershelikopterid, planeslennukid --
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helikopterid, lennukid -
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where are the landscapesmaastikud where all of that stuffasjad endslõpeb up?
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kus on need maastikud, kuhu kogu see kupatus välja jõuab.
01:41
And to me, again, photographyfotograafia was
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Ja veelkord, minu jaoks oli fotograafia
01:43
a way in whichmis I could exploreuurima and researchuuringud the worldmaailm,
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see viis, kuidas seda maailma avastada, uurida ja
01:46
and find those placeskohti.
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need paigad leida.
01:48
And anotherteine ideaidee that I had as well,
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Veel üks idee, mis mul oli ja
01:50
that was broughttõi kaasa forwardettepoole by an ecologistökoloog --
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mille tõi välja üks ökoloog -
01:54
he basicallypõhimõtteliselt did a calculationarvutus where
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ta tegi ühe kalkulatsiooni,
01:57
he tookvõttis one literliiter of gasgaas and said,
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võttes liitri kütust, ja arvutas,
01:59
well, how much carbonsüsinik it would take, and how much organicorgaaniline materialmaterjali?
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kui palju süsinikku ja orgaanilist materjali selleks kulub.
02:03
It was 23 metricmeetriline tonstonni for one literliiter.
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Tulemus oli 23 tonni ühe liitri kohta.
02:06
So whenevermillal iganes I filltäitke up my gasgaas,
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Seepärast, iga kord kui ma bensiinipaaki täidan,
02:08
I think of that literliiter, and how much carbonsüsinik.
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mõtlen sellele liitrile ja süsiniku hulgale.
02:10
And I know that oilõli comestuleb from the oceanookean and phytoplanktonfütoplankton,
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Ja ma tean, et nafta tuleb ookeanist ning fütoplanktonist.
02:13
but he did the calculationsarvutused for our EarthMaa
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Aga ta tegi arvutused kogu meie Maa kohta
02:16
and what it had to do to producetoota that amountsumma of energyenergia.
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ja selle kohta, mida Maa sellise energiahulga tootmiseks tegema peab.
02:18
From the photosyntheticfotosünteesi growthkasvu,
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Kui arvestada fotosünteetilise kasvuga,
02:20
it would take 500 yearsaastaid of that growthkasvu
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kuluks selleks aega 500 aastat,
02:23
to producetoota what we use, the 30 billionmiljardit eurot barrelstünnid we use perper yearaastas.
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et toota nii palju kui me aastas kulutame - 30 miljardit barrelit.
02:28
And that alsoka broughttõi kaasa me to the factfakt that
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Ja ma hakkasin mõtlema fakti üle,
02:30
this posestekitab suchselline a riskrisk to our societyühiskond.
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milline tohutu risk on see meie ühiskonnale.
02:33
Looking at 30 billionmiljardit eurot perper yearaastas,
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Kolmkümmend miljardit barrelit aastas tähendab
02:38
we look at our two largestsuurim supplierstarnijad,
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meie kahte suurimat tarnijat,
02:40
SaudiSaudi ArabiaAraabia and now CanadaKanada, with its dirtyräpane oilõli.
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Saudi Araabiat ja nüüd ka Kanadat oma räpase naftaga.
02:42
And togetherkoos they only formvormis about 15 yearsaastaid of supplypakkumine.
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Ja kokku moodustavad nad ainult umbes 15-aastase naftavaru.
02:46
The wholeterve worldmaailm, at 1.2 trilliontriljonit estimatedhinnanguline reservesreservid,
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Kogu maailm oma hinnanguliselt 1,2 triljoni varuga
02:49
only givesannab us about 45 yearsaastaid.
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annab meile vaid ligikaudu 45 aastat.
02:51
So, it's not a questionküsimus of if, but a questionküsimus of when
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Seega pole küsimus mitte kas, vaid millal
02:54
peaktipp oilõli will come uponpärast us.
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naftatootmise tipp kätte jõuab.
02:56
So, to me, usingkasutades photographyfotograafia --
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Mina teen seda fotograafia kaudu -
02:58
and I feel that all of us need to now beginalustada to really
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kuid ma usun, et me kõik peame nüüd kohe võtma
03:01
take the taskülesanne of usingkasutades our talentsandeid,
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oma ülesandeks kasutada oma andeid,
03:03
our waysviisid of thinkingmõtlesin,
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oma mõtlemisvõimet,
03:06
to beginalustada to dealtegelema with what I think is probablytõenäoliselt
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et tegeleda minu arvates meie aja
03:08
one of the mostkõige rohkem challengingväljakutse issuesküsimused of our time,
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tõenäoliselt ühe tõsisema probleemiga:
03:11
how to dealtegelema with our energyenergia crisiskriis.
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kuidas tulla toime meie energiakriisiga.
03:13
And I would like to say that, on the other sidekülg of it,
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Ja ma tahaksin öelda, et kui võtta teisest küljest,
03:15
30, 40 yearsaastaid from now, the childrenlapsed that I have,
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30-40 aastat edasi praegusest hetkest, et võiksin siis
03:17
I can look at them and say, "We did everything
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vaadata otsa oma lastele ja öelda, et tegime kõik,
03:19
we possiblytõenäoliselt, humanlyinimlikult could do,
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mis inimvõimete piires,
03:22
to beginalustada to mitigateleevendada this,
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et alustada selle leevendamist,
03:25
what I feel is one of the mostkõige rohkem importantoluline and criticalkriitiline
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mis on minu arvates üks tähtsamaid ja kriitilisemaid
03:27
momentshetked in our time. Thank you.
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momente meie ajaloos. Aitäh!
03:30
(ApplauseAplaus)
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(Aplaus)
Translated by Reelika Saar
Reviewed by Mailis Laos

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Edward Burtynsky - Photographer
2005 TED Prize winner Edward Burtynsky has made it his life's work to document humanity's impact on the planet. His riveting photographs, as beautiful as they are horrifying, capture views of the Earth altered by mankind.

Why you should listen

To describe Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky's work in a single adjective, you have to speak French: jolie-laide. His images of scarred landscapes -- from mountains of tires to rivers of bright orange waste from a nickel mine -- are eerily pretty yet ugly at the same time. Burtynsky's large-format color photographs explore the impact of humanity's expanding footprint and the substantial ways in which we're reshaping the surface of the planet. His images powerfully alter the way we think about the world and our place in it.

With his blessing and encouragement, WorldChanging.com and others use his work to inspire ongoing global conversations about sustainable living. Burtynsky's photographs are included in the collections of over 50 museums around the world, including the Tate, London and the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim in New York City. A large-format book, 2003's Manufactured Landscapes, collected his work, and in 2007, a documentary based on his photography, also called Manufactured Landscapes, debuted at the Toronto Film Festival before going on to screen at Sundance and elsewhere. It was released on DVD in March 2007. In 2008, after giving a talk at the Long Now Foundation, Burtynsky proposed "The 10,000 Year Gallery," which could house art to be curated over thousands of years preserved through carbon transfers in an effort to reflect the attitudes and changes of the world over time. 

When Burtynsky accepted his 2005 TED Prize, he made three wishes. One of his wishes: to build a website that will help kids think about going green. Thanks to WGBH and the TED community, the show and site Meet the Greens debuted at TED2007. His second wish: to begin work on an Imax film, which morphed into the jaw-dropping film Manufactured Landscapes with Jennifer Baichwal. And his third wish, wider in scope, was simply to encourage "a massive and productive worldwide conversation about sustainable living." Thanks to his help and the input of the TED community, the site WorldChanging.com got an infusion of energy that has helped it to grow into a leading voice in the sustainability community.

In 2016, he won a Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts for his work.

More profile about the speaker
Edward Burtynsky | Speaker | TED.com