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

Эдуард Буртынски: Фотографируя нефтяной ландшафт

Filmed:
550,970 views

В ошеломляющих широкоформатных фотографиях Эдyард Бyртынски следует за нефтяным потоком через современное общество, от скважины, через нефтепровод, до мотора и далее к ожидаемому эндшпилю пика потребления.
- 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 startedначал my journeyпоездка 30 yearsлет agoтому назад.
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Своё путешествие я начал 30 лет назад.
00:18
And I workedработал in minesмины. And I realizedпонял that
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Работал я в шахтах. И я понял, что
00:20
this was a worldМир unseenневидимый.
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эта часть мира остаётся невидимой.
00:22
And I wanted, throughчерез colorцвет and largeбольшой formatформат camerasкамеры
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Тогда я решил, посредством цветных и широкоформатных аппаратов
00:24
and very largeбольшой printsпечать,
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и крупноразмерных фотографий,
00:26
to make a bodyтело of work that somehowкак-то
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создать собрание произведений, которое так или иначе
00:28
becameстал symbolsсимволы of our
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стало бы символом
00:31
use of the landscapeпейзаж,
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нашего использования ландшафта,
00:33
how we use the landземельные участки.
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использования земли.
00:35
And to me this was
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Для меня это был
00:37
a keyключ componentкомпонент that somehowкак-то, throughчерез this mediumсредний of photographyфотография,
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ключ, который неким образом, посредством фотографии,
00:40
whichкоторый allowsпозволяет us to contemplateсозерцать these landscapesпейзажи,
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позволяет нам созерцать такой пейзаж.
00:43
that I thought photographyфотография was perfectlyв совершенстве suitedподходящий
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Я посчитал, что фотографирование прекрасно подходит
00:46
to doing this typeтип of work.
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для такого рода работы.
00:48
And after 17 yearsлет of photographingфотографирование largeбольшой industrialпромышленные landscapesпейзажи,
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После 17 лет фотографирования огромных индустриальных ландшафтов
00:52
it occurredпроизошло to me that
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мне пришло в голову, что
00:54
oilмасло is underpinningподоплека the scaleмасштаб and speedскорость.
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нефть лежит в основе масштаба и скорости,
00:56
Because that is what has changedизменено,
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поскольку изменилась именно скорость,
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is the speedскорость at whichкоторый we're takingпринятие all our resourcesРесурсы.
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с которой мы исчерпываем все наши ресурсы.
01:01
And so then I wentотправился out to developразвивать a wholeвсе seriesсерии
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Тогда я начал создавать целую серию
01:03
on the landscapeпейзаж of oilмасло.
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на тему нефтяных ландшафтов.
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And what I want to do is to kindсвоего рода of mapкарта an arcдуга
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Я решил прочертить нечто типа траектории.
01:10
that there is extractionдобыча, where we're takingпринятие it from the groundземля,
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Начало её – место добычи нефти из-под земли
01:13
refinementутонченность. And that's one chapterглава.
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и её обработка. Это первая часть.
01:15
The other chapterглава that I wanted to look at was
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Другая часть, на которую я хотел взглянуть – это то,
01:17
how we use it -- our citiesгорода,
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как мы используем нефть, это наши города,
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our carsлегковые автомобили, our motorculturesmotorcultures,
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автомобили, культура моторизации,
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where people gatherсобирать around the vehicleсредство передвижения
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когда центр события – само транспортное средство
01:25
as a celebrationпраздник.
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и его превознесение.
01:27
And then the thirdв третьих one is this ideaидея of the endконец of oilмасло,
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Наконец, третья часть посвящена идее конца пути этой нефти.
01:29
this entropicэнтропийный endконец,
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На этом конце мы видим разложение,
01:31
where all of our partsчасти of carsлегковые автомобили, our tiresшины,
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наших автозапчастей, наших покрышек,
01:34
oilмасло filtersфильтры,
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масляных фильтров,
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helicoptersвертолеты, planesсамолеты --
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вертолетов, самолетов,
01:38
where are the landscapesпейзажи where all of that stuffматериал endsконцы up?
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целые ландшафты, к которым текут все эти предметы.
01:41
And to me, again, photographyфотография was
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Для меня, повторяю, фотографирование было
01:43
a way in whichкоторый I could exploreисследовать and researchисследование the worldМир,
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инструментом изучения мира, его исследования,
01:46
and find those placesмест.
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поиска таких мест.
01:48
And anotherдругой ideaидея that I had as well,
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У меня также была ещё одна идея,
01:50
that was broughtпривел forwardвперед by an ecologistэколог --
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которая была подсказана экологом.
01:54
he basicallyв основном did a calculationрасчет where
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Он просто сделал расчет,
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he tookвзял one literлитр of gasгаз and said,
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задавшись вопросом: сколько потребуется
01:59
well, how much carbonуглерод it would take, and how much organicорганический materialматериал?
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углерода и органического материала на один литр бензина?
02:03
It was 23 metricметрический tonsтонны for one literлитр.
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На 1 литр требуется 23 тонны.
02:06
So wheneverвсякий раз, когда I fillзаполнить up my gasгаз,
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Каждый раз, когда я теперь заливаю бензин
02:08
I think of that literлитр, and how much carbonуглерод.
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я думаю об объеме углерода на литр.
02:10
And I know that oilмасло comesвыходит from the oceanокеан and phytoplanktonфитопланктон,
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А я знаю, что нефть достаётся из океана и фитопланктона.
02:13
but he did the calculationsвычисления for our EarthЗемля
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Он также сделал вычисления для всей планеты:
02:16
and what it had to do to produceпроизводить that amountколичество of energyэнергия.
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сколь долго ей пришлось бы создавать такое количество энергии?
02:18
From the photosyntheticфотосинтезирующий growthрост,
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Начиная с роста фотосинтеза,
02:20
it would take 500 yearsлет of that growthрост
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требуется 500 лет роста
02:23
to produceпроизводить what we use, the 30 billionмиллиард barrelsбаррели we use perв yearгод.
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для создания тех 30 млрд. баррелей, что мы потребляем в год,
02:28
And that alsoтакже broughtпривел me to the factфакт that
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Благодаря этому я узнал, какую угрозу
02:30
this posesпозы suchтакие a riskриск to our societyобщество.
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это представляет для нашего общества.
02:33
Looking at 30 billionмиллиард perв yearгод,
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Говоря о 30 миллиардах в год,
02:38
we look at our two largestкрупнейший suppliersпоставщики,
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мы думаем о двух наших крупнейших поставщиках,
02:40
SaudiСаудовская ArabiaАравия and now CanadaКанада, with its dirtyгрязный oilмасло.
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Саудовской Аравии, и теперь Канаде, с её грязной нефтью.
02:42
And togetherвместе they only formформа about 15 yearsлет of supplyпоставка.
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Их совместных запасов хватит только лет на 15.
02:46
The wholeвсе worldМир, at 1.2 trillionтриллион estimatedпо оценкам reservesрезервы,
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Весь мир, с его предполагаемыми запасами в 1,2 триллиона,
02:49
only givesдает us about 45 yearsлет.
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даст нам всего лишь около 45 лет.
02:51
So, it's not a questionвопрос of if, but a questionвопрос of when
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Итак, вопрос не в том, «грянет ли», а в том, «когда грянет»
02:54
peakвершина горы oilмасло will come uponна us.
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пик потребления нефти.
02:56
So, to me, usingс помощью photographyфотография --
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Способ выражения через фотографии для меня …
02:58
and I feel that all of us need to now beginначать to really
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Я считаю, что все мы должны начать действовать,
03:01
take the taskзадача of usingс помощью our talentsталанты,
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взяться за задачу использовать наши таланты,
03:03
our waysпути of thinkingмышление,
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наш образ мышления,
03:06
to beginначать to dealпо рукам with what I think is probablyвероятно
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обратить все усилия на самый, по моему мнению,
03:08
one of the mostбольшинство challengingиспытывающий issuesвопросы of our time,
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сложный вопрос нашего времени:
03:11
how to dealпо рукам with our energyэнергия crisisкризис.
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как справиться с энергетическим кризисом.
03:13
And I would like to say that, on the other sideбоковая сторона of it,
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С другой стороны, я хочу суметь сказать
03:15
30, 40 yearsлет from now, the childrenдети that I have,
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нашим детям, через 30-40 лет,
03:17
I can look at them and say, "We did everything
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хочу суметь взглянуть им в глаза и сказать «Мы сделали всё возможное,
03:19
we possiblyвозможно, humanlyпо-человечески could do,
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всё, что в силах человеческих,
03:22
to beginначать to mitigateсмягчать this,
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для смягчения [кризиса].»
03:25
what I feel is one of the mostбольшинство importantважный and criticalкритический
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Я считаю это одним из важнейших и критических
03:27
momentsмоменты in our time. Thank you.
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моментов нашего времени. Спасибо.
03:30
(ApplauseАплодисменты)
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(Аплодисменты)
Translated by Marina Odintsova
Reviewed by Namik Kasumov

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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
THE ORIGINAL VIDEO ON TED.COM