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 Brutynsky fotografiază peisajul petrolului

Filmed:
550,970 views

Prin intermediul unor fotografii impresionante, Edward Burtynsky urmăreşte drumul petrolului în societatea modernă începând de la sursă până la conducte, până în motoarele maşinilor -- şi apoi mai departe, după sfârşitul petrolului.
- 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 starteda început my journeycălătorie 30 yearsani agoîn urmă.
0
0
3000
Călătoria mea a început acum 30 de ani.
00:18
And I workeda lucrat in minesmine. And I realizedrealizat that
1
3000
2000
Am lucrat în mine. Şi am realizat că
00:20
this was a worldlume unseennevăzut.
2
5000
2000
aceasta era o parte nevăzută a lumii.
00:22
And I wanted, throughprin colorculoare and largemare formatformat camerascamere
3
7000
2000
Am dorit, ca prin intermediul culorii și al aparatelor cu format lat
00:24
and very largemare printsprinturi,
4
9000
2000
și al printurilor foarte mari,
00:26
to make a bodycorp of work that somehowoarecum
5
11000
2000
să creez baza unui proiect care
00:28
becamea devenit symbolssimboluri of our
6
13000
3000
a devenit oarecum un simbol
00:31
use of the landscapepeisaj,
7
16000
2000
al modului în care folosim peisajele,
00:33
how we use the landteren.
8
18000
2000
cum folosim terenul.
00:35
And to me this was
9
20000
2000
Pentru mine acest lucru a fost
00:37
a keycheie componentcomponent that somehowoarecum, throughprin this mediummediu of photographyfotografie,
10
22000
3000
un element important care, prin fotografie,
00:40
whichcare allowspermite us to contemplatecontempla these landscapespeisaje,
11
25000
3000
ne facilitează contemplarea acestor peisaje.
00:43
that I thought photographyfotografie was perfectlyperfect suitedpotrivit
12
28000
3000
Am considerat că fotografia este potrivită
00:46
to doing this typetip of work.
13
31000
2000
pentru acest tip de proiect.
00:48
And after 17 yearsani of photographingSesiuni foto largemare industrialindustrial landscapespeisaje,
14
33000
4000
După 17 ani de fotografiat peisaje industriale,
00:52
it occurreda avut loc to me that
15
37000
2000
mi-am dat seama că
00:54
oilulei is underpinningstau la baza the scalescară and speedviteză.
16
39000
2000
petrolul stă la baza mărimii şi a vitezei,
00:56
Because that is what has changedschimbat,
17
41000
2000
pentru că asta s-a chimbat:
00:58
is the speedviteză at whichcare we're takingluare all our resourcesresurse.
18
43000
3000
viteza cu care folosim toate resursele.
01:01
And so then I wenta mers out to developdezvolta a wholeîntreg seriesserie
19
46000
2000
Astfel am început să dezvolt o serie
01:03
on the landscapepeisaj of oilulei.
20
48000
2000
despre peisajul petrolului.
01:05
And what I want to do is to kinddrăguț of mapHartă an arcarc
21
50000
5000
Ceea ce vreau să fac este să trasez o hartă
01:10
that there is extractionextractie, where we're takingluare it from the groundsol,
22
55000
3000
a extracţiei petrolului din pământ,
01:13
refinementrafinament. And that's one chaptercapitol.
23
58000
2000
a rafinării acestuia. Acesta este primul capitol.
01:15
The other chaptercapitol that I wanted to look at was
24
60000
2000
Celălalt capitol la care am vrut să mă refer descrie
01:17
how we use it -- our citiesorase,
25
62000
2000
cum îl folosim, în oraşele noastre
01:19
our carsautoturisme, our motorculturesmotorcultures,
26
64000
2000
în maşini, în cultura motoarelor,
01:21
where people gatheraduna around the vehiclevehicul
27
66000
4000
în care oamenii se adună în jurul vehiculelor
01:25
as a celebrationsărbătoare.
28
70000
2000
ca la o sărbătoare.
01:27
And then the thirdal treilea one is this ideaidee of the endSfârşit of oilulei,
29
72000
2000
Cel de-al treilea capitol se referă la sfârşitul petrolului,
01:29
this entropicentropice endSfârşit,
30
74000
2000
acest sfârşit entropic,
01:31
where all of our partspărți of carsautoturisme, our tiresanvelope,
31
76000
3000
unde toate piesele de maşini, cauciucurile,
01:34
oilulei filtersfiltre,
32
79000
2000
filtrele de ulei,
01:36
helicopterselicoptere, planesavioane --
33
81000
2000
elicopterele, avioanele --
01:38
where are the landscapespeisaje where all of that stuffchestie endscapete up?
34
83000
3000
unde sunt peisajele unde ajung toate astea?
01:41
And to me, again, photographyfotografie was
35
86000
2000
Pentru mine fotografia a fost
01:43
a way in whichcare I could exploreexplora and researchcercetare the worldlume,
36
88000
3000
modul în care am putut explora şi investiga lumea,
01:46
and find those placeslocuri.
37
91000
2000
şi unde am găsit acele locuri.
01:48
And anothero alta ideaidee that I had as well,
38
93000
2000
Altă ideea pe care am avut-o
01:50
that was broughtadus forwardredirecţiona by an ecologistecologist --
39
95000
4000
care a fost adusă în discuţie de un ecologist --
01:54
he basicallype scurt did a calculationcalcul where
40
99000
3000
Acesta a făcut nişte calcule în care
01:57
he tooka luat one literlitri of gasgaz and said,
41
102000
2000
a luat un litru de benzină şi şi-a pus întrebarea
01:59
well, how much carboncarbon it would take, and how much organicorganic materialmaterial?
42
104000
4000
de cât carbon şi material organic e nevoie pentru a obţine un litru de benzină?
02:03
It was 23 metricmetric tonstone for one literlitri.
43
108000
3000
Este vorba de 23 de tone pentru un litru.
02:06
So wheneveroricând I fillcompletati up my gasgaz,
44
111000
2000
Aşa că de fiecare dată când alimentez maşina,
02:08
I think of that literlitri, and how much carboncarbon.
45
113000
2000
mă gândesc la litrul acela şi la carbon.
02:10
And I know that oilulei comesvine from the oceanocean and phytoplanktonfitoplanctonului,
46
115000
3000
Şi ştiu că petrolul provine din ocean şi de la fitoplanctoni.
02:13
but he did the calculationscalcule for our EarthPământ
47
118000
3000
Dar ecologistul a făcut calculul pentru Pământ
02:16
and what it had to do to producelegume şi fructe that amountCantitate of energyenergie.
48
121000
2000
şi de câte resurse ar fi nevoie pentru a produce o asemenea cantitate de energie.
02:18
From the photosyntheticfotosintetice growthcreştere,
49
123000
2000
De la creşterea fotosintetică,
02:20
it would take 500 yearsani of that growthcreştere
50
125000
3000
ar fi nevoie de 500 de ani
02:23
to producelegume şi fructe what we use, the 30 billionmiliard barrelsbutoaie we use perpe yearan.
51
128000
5000
pentru a produce cât folosim, cele 30 de miliarde de barili pe an.
02:28
And that alsode asemenea broughtadus me to the factfapt that
52
133000
2000
Şi asta m-a dus cu gândul şi la faptul că aceste numere
02:30
this posesridică suchastfel de a riskrisc to our societysocietate.
53
135000
3000
reprezintă un asemenea risc pentru societatea noastră.
02:33
Looking at 30 billionmiliard perpe yearan,
54
138000
5000
Analizând cifra de 30 de miliarde pe an
02:38
we look at our two largestcea mai mare suppliersfurnizori,
55
143000
2000
ne uităm la cei mai mari furnizori,
02:40
SaudiArabia Saudită ArabiaArabia and now CanadaCanada, with its dirtymurdar oilulei.
56
145000
2000
Arabia Saudită, şi acum Canada, cu petrolul ei murdar.
02:42
And togetherîmpreună they only formformă about 15 yearsani of supplylivra.
57
147000
4000
Şi împreună ei au aproximativ 15 ani de resurse.
02:46
The wholeîntreg worldlume, at 1.2 trilliontrilion estimatedestimativ reservesrezerve,
58
151000
3000
Rezervele mondială de petrol este estimată la 1,2 trilioane de barili
02:49
only gives us about 45 yearsani.
59
154000
2000
ne oferă resurse doar pentru ~ 45 de ani.
02:51
So, it's not a questionîntrebare of if, but a questionîntrebare of when
60
156000
3000
Aşadar nu se pune problema dacă, ci când
02:54
peakvârf oilulei will come uponpe us.
61
159000
2000
se va termina petrolul.
02:56
So, to me, usingutilizând photographyfotografie --
62
161000
2000
Pentru mine, folosind fotografia --
02:58
and I feel that all of us need to now beginÎNCEPE to really
63
163000
3000
şi cred că toţi ar trebui să începem
03:01
take the tasksarcină of usingutilizând our talentstalente,
64
166000
2000
să ne asumăm responsabilitatea de a ne folosi talentele,
03:03
our waysmoduri of thinkinggândire,
65
168000
3000
modul de gândire, pentru a începe
03:06
to beginÎNCEPE to dealafacere with what I think is probablyprobabil
66
171000
2000
să căutăm soluţii pentru ceea ce eu cred că este probabil
03:08
one of the mostcel mai challengingprovocator issuesprobleme of our time,
67
173000
3000
una dintre cele mai dificile probleme ale vremurilor noastre,
03:11
how to dealafacere with our energyenergie crisiscriză.
68
176000
2000
cum să administrăm criza de energie.
03:13
And I would like to say that, on the other sidelatură of it,
69
178000
2000
Aş dori să adaug că, pe cealaltă parte,
03:15
30, 40 yearsani from now, the childrencopii that I have,
70
180000
2000
peste 30, 40 de ani, copiilor mei,
03:17
I can look at them and say, "We did everything
71
182000
2000
le voi putea spune sincer: "Am făcut
03:19
we possiblyeventual, humanlyomeneşte could do,
72
184000
3000
tot ce ne-a stat în putinţă
03:22
to beginÎNCEPE to mitigateatenuarea this,
73
187000
3000
pentru a începe să rezolvăm
03:25
what I feel is one of the mostcel mai importantimportant and criticalcritic
74
190000
2000
ceea ce eu consider că este cel mai important şi critic
03:27
momentsmomente in our time. Thank you.
75
192000
3000
moment din vremurile noastre. Vă mulţumesc!
03:30
(ApplauseAplauze)
76
195000
4000
(Aplauze)
Translated by Raluca Piteiu
Reviewed by Dragos Mitrica

▲Back to top

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