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 fotografeert het olie-landschap

Filmed:
550,970 views

In prachtige grootformaat fotos volgt Edward Burtynsky het traject van olie in de hedendaagse samenleving, van eruptie-afsluiter tot pijpleiding tot auto-motor -- en dan door naar de voorspelde uitputting van de olie-voorraad.
- 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 startedbegonnen my journeyreis 30 yearsjaar agogeleden.
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Ik begon mijn reis 30 jaar geleden.
00:18
And I workedwerkte in minesmijnen. And I realizedrealiseerde that
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En ik werkte in de mijnen. En ik realiseerde me dat
00:20
this was a worldwereld- unseenongezien.
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dit een ongeziene wereld was.
00:22
And I wanted, throughdoor colorkleur and largegroot formatformaat camerascamera's
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En ik wilde, door middel van kleur en grootformaat cameras
00:24
and very largegroot printsprints,
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en hele grote afdrukken,
00:26
to make a bodylichaam of work that somehowhoe dan ook
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een verzameling werk maken dat op de één of andere manier
00:28
becamewerd symbolssymbolen of our
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symbolen werden van ons
00:31
use of the landscapelandschap,
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gebruik van het landschap,
00:33
how we use the landland-.
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hoe we het land gebruiken.
00:35
And to me this was
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En dit was voor mij
00:37
a keysleutel componentbestanddeel that somehowhoe dan ook, throughdoor this mediummedium of photographyfotografie,
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een onmisbaar aspect dat, door het medium fotografie,
00:40
whichwelke allowstoestaat us to contemplateaanschouwen these landscapeslandschappen,
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dat ons in staat stelt deze landschappen te overpeinzen,
00:43
that I thought photographyfotografie was perfectlyvolmaakt suitedgeschikt
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dat ik dacht dat fotografie perfect geschikt was
00:46
to doing this typetype of work.
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voor dit soort werk.
00:48
And after 17 yearsjaar of photographingfotograferen largegroot industrialindustrieel landscapeslandschappen,
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En na 17 jaar lang grote industriële landschappen te hebben gefotografeerd,
00:52
it occurredheeft plaatsgevonden to me that
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besefte ik dat
00:54
oilolie- is underpinningonderbouwing the scaleschaal and speedsnelheid.
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olie aan de basis ligt van de afmeting en snelheid,
00:56
Because that is what has changedveranderd,
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want dat is wat er veranderd is,
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is the speedsnelheid at whichwelke we're takingnemen all our resourcesmiddelen.
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het is de snelheid waarmee we al onze hulpbronnen nemen.
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And so then I wentgegaan out to developontwikkelen a wholegeheel seriesserie
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En daarom ging ik erop uit om een complete serie te creëeren
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on the landscapelandschap of oilolie-.
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over het olie-landschap.
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And what I want to do is to kindsoort of mapkaart an arcboog
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En wat ik wil doen is een soort boog in kaart brengen
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that there is extractionextractie, where we're takingnemen it from the groundgrond,
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dat er oliewinning is, waar we het uit de grond halen,
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refinementverfijning. And that's one chapterhoofdstuk.
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raffinage. En dat is een hoofdstuk.
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The other chapterhoofdstuk that I wanted to look at was
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Het andere hoofdstuk waar ik naar wilde kijken was
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how we use it -- our citiessteden,
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hoe we het gebruiken, onze steden,
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our carsauto's, our motorculturesmotorcultures,
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onze autos, onze motor-culturen,
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where people gatherverzamelen around the vehiclevoertuig
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waar mensen zich rondom een wagen verzamelen
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as a celebrationviering.
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als in een viering.
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And then the thirdderde one is this ideaidee of the endeinde of oilolie-,
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En dan het derde is het idee van het einde van de olie,
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this entropicentropische endeinde,
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dit entropische einde,
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where all of our partsonderdelen of carsauto's, our tiresbanden,
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waar alle onderdelen van onze autos, onze banden,
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oilolie- filtersfilters,
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oliefilters,
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helicoptershelikopters, planesvliegtuigen --
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helikopters, vliegtuigen --
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where are the landscapeslandschappen where all of that stuffspul endsloopt af up?
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waar zijn de landschappen waar al die dingen terecht komen?
01:41
And to me, again, photographyfotografie was
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En voor mij was fotografie, weer,
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a way in whichwelke I could exploreonderzoeken and researchOnderzoek the worldwereld-,
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een manier om de wereld te ontdekken en te onderzoeken,
01:46
and find those placesplaatsen.
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en dat soort plekken te vinden.
01:48
And anothereen ander ideaidee that I had as well,
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En een ander idee dat ik ook had,
01:50
that was broughtbracht forwardvooruit by an ecologistecoloog --
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waar een ecoloog mee kwam --
01:54
he basicallyeigenlijk did a calculationberekening where
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Hij maakte eigenlijk gewoon een berekening waarbij
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he tooknam one literliter of gasgas- and said,
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hij een liter gas nam en zei,
01:59
well, how much carbonkoolstof it would take, and how much organicbiologisch materialmateriaal?
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nou, hoeveel koolstof zou er voor nodig zijn, en hoeveel organisch materiaal?
02:03
It was 23 metricmetriek tonstons for one literliter.
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Het was 23 ton voor een liter.
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So whenevertelkens als I fillvullen up my gasgas-,
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Dus elke keer als ik tank,
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I think of that literliter, and how much carbonkoolstof.
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denk ik aan die liter, en hoeveel koolstof.
02:10
And I know that oilolie- comeskomt from the oceanoceaan and phytoplanktonfytoplankton,
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En ik weet dat olie uit de oceaan komt en van fytoplankton.
02:13
but he did the calculationsberekeningen for our EarthAarde
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Maar hij maakte de berekeningen voor onze Aarde
02:16
and what it had to do to produceproduceren that amountbedrag of energyenergie.
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en wat zij moet doen om die hoeveelheid energie te produceren.
02:18
From the photosyntheticfotosynthetische growthgroei,
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Vanaf de fotosynthetische groei,
02:20
it would take 500 yearsjaar of that growthgroei
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zou er 500 jaar nodig zijn
02:23
to produceproduceren what we use, the 30 billionmiljard barrelsvaten we use perper yearjaar.
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om te produceren wat we gebruiken, de 30 miljard vaten die we per jaar gebruiken.
02:28
And that alsoook broughtbracht me to the factfeit that
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En dat leidde me ook naar het feit dat
02:30
this posesposes suchzodanig a riskrisico to our societymaatschappij.
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dit een geweldig risico voor onze samenleving is.
02:33
Looking at 30 billionmiljard perper yearjaar,
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Kijkend naar 30 miljard per jaar,
02:38
we look at our two largestDe grootste suppliersleveranciers,
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we kijken naar onze twee grootste olieleveranciers,
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SaudiSaoedi-Arabië ArabiaArabia and now CanadaCanada, with its dirtyvuil oilolie-.
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Saudie-Arabië, en nu Canada, met zijn vuile olie.
02:42
And togethersamen they only formformulier about 15 yearsjaar of supplylevering.
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En samen zijn zij slechts goed voor een voorraad voor ongeveer 15 jaar.
02:46
The wholegeheel worldwereld-, at 1.2 trillionbiljoen estimatedgeschatte reservesreserves,
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De hele wereld, met geschatte reserves van 1.2 triljard,
02:49
only givesgeeft us about 45 yearsjaar.
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geeft ons niet meer dan ongeveer 45 jaar.
02:51
So, it's not a questionvraag of if, but a questionvraag of when
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Dus de vraag is niet of, maar de vraag is wanneer
02:54
peakhoogtepunt oilolie- will come uponop us.
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de voorraad uitgeput zal zijn.
02:56
So, to me, usinggebruik makend van photographyfotografie --
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Dus, voor mij, gebruikmakend van fotografie --
02:58
and I feel that all of us need to now beginbeginnen to really
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en ik voel dat wij allen nu echt moeten beginnen
03:01
take the tasktaak of usinggebruik makend van our talentstalenten,
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om onze talenten te gebruiken,
03:03
our waysmanieren of thinkinghet denken,
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onze gedachtegangen,
03:06
to beginbeginnen to dealtransactie with what I think is probablywaarschijnlijk
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om om te gaan met wat ik denk is waarschijnlijk
03:08
one of the mostmeest challenginguitdagend issueskwesties of our time,
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een van de meest uitdagende problemen van onze tijd,
03:11
how to dealtransactie with our energyenergie crisiscrisis.
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hoe om te gaan met onze energie-crisis.
03:13
And I would like to say that, on the other sidekant of it,
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En ik wil graag zeggen dat, aan de andere kant,
03:15
30, 40 yearsjaar from now, the childrenkinderen that I have,
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over 30 of 40 jaar, de kinderen die ik heb,
03:17
I can look at them and say, "We did everything
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aan kan kijken en kan zeggen, 'We hebben alles
03:19
we possiblymogelijk, humanlymenselijk could do,
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gedaan dat voor mensen mogelijk was,
03:22
to beginbeginnen to mitigateverzachten this,
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om een begin te maken dit aan te pakken,
03:25
what I feel is one of the mostmeest importantbelangrijk and criticalkritisch
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wat volgens mij een van de meest belangrijke en kritieke
03:27
momentsmomenten in our time. Thank you.
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momenten van onze tijd is. Dank u wel.
03:30
(ApplauseApplaus)
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(Applaus)
Translated by Nicolien Kegels
Reviewed by Rudolf Penninkhof

▲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
THE ORIGINAL VIDEO ON TED.COM

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