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 fotografuje ropné prostredie

Filmed:
550,970 views

Edward Burtynsky sleduje na ohromujúcich veľkoformátových fotografiách cestu ropy modernou spoločnosťou od ropného vrtu cez ropovod až do motoru auta – a potom mimo rámec až po odhadovaný ropný koniec.
- 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 startedzahájená my journeycesta 30 yearsleta agopred.
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Svoju púť som začal pred 30 rokmi.
00:18
And I workedpracoval in minesbane. And I realizedsi uvedomil, that
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Vtedy som pracoval v baniach a uvedomoval som si,
00:20
this was a worldsvet unseenneviditeľné.
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že to bol neviditeľný svet.
00:22
And I wanted, throughskrz colorfarba and largeveľký formatformát cameraskamery
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Cez farby, veľko-formátové fotoaparáty
00:24
and very largeveľký printsvýtlačky,
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a veľké fotografie
00:26
to make a bodytelo of work that somehownejako
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som chcel vytvoriť ucelené dielo, ktoré by sa stalo akýmsi
00:28
becamesa stal symbolssymboly of our
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symbolom nášho užívania
00:31
use of the landscapekrajina,
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krajiny, toho,
00:33
how we use the landpôda.
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ako využívame našu zem.
00:35
And to me this was
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Pre mňa bol toto
00:37
a keykľúč componentkomponentov that somehownejako, throughskrz this mediumstredná of photographyfotografovanie,
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hlavný komponent. Fotografia
00:40
whichktorý allowsumožňuje us to contemplatezamýšľať these landscapeskrajiny,
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nám umožňuje rozjímať nad krajinou.
00:43
that I thought photographyfotografovanie was perfectlybezchybne suitedvhodný
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Preto som si myslel, že je veľmi vhodná
00:46
to doing this typetyp of work.
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na takúto prácu.
00:48
And after 17 yearsleta of photographingfotografovanie largeveľký industrialpriemyselný landscapeskrajiny,
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Po 17 rokoch fotografovania veľkých priemyselných priestorov
00:52
it occurreddošlo to me that
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som si uvedomil,
00:54
oilolej is underpinningoporou the scalemierka and speedrýchlosť.
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že ropa ovplyvňuje rozsah a rýchlosť.
00:56
Because that is what has changedzmenený,
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Pretože to je to, čo sa zmenilo.
00:58
is the speedrýchlosť at whichktorý we're takingprevzatia all our resourceszdroje.
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Je to rýchlosť, ktorou získavame všetky zdroje.
01:01
And so then I wentšiel out to developvypracovať a wholecelý seriesséria
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A tak som vyrazil von vypracovať celú sériu
01:03
on the landscapekrajina of oilolej.
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na tému ropné prostredie.
01:05
And what I want to do is to kinddruh of mapmapa an arcoblúk
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Chcel som tým opísať akýsi oblúk,
01:10
that there is extractionExtrakcia, where we're takingprevzatia it from the groundprízemný,
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počínajúc ťažbou, keď získavame ropu zo zeme,
01:13
refinementupresnenie. And that's one chapterkapitola.
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a spracovaním.To je jedna časť.
01:15
The other chapterkapitola that I wanted to look at was
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V druhej časti som sa chcel zamerať na to,
01:17
how we use it -- our citiesmesta,
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ako ju využívame v mestách,
01:19
our carscars, our motorculturesmotorcultures,
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v autách, v motorovej kultúre,
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where people gatherzbierať around the vehiclevozidlo
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v ktorej sa ľudia zhromažďujú okolo vozidiel,
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as a celebrationOslava.
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aby ich oslavovali.
01:27
And then the thirdtretina one is this ideanápad of the endkoniec of oilolej,
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Tretia časť je myšlienkou konca ropy,
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this entropicentropic endkoniec,
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akejsi skazy.
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where all of our partsdiely of carscars, our tirespneumatiky,
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Toho, kde končia časti áut, pneumatík,
01:34
oilolej filtersfiltre,
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ropných filtrov,
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helicoptersvrtuľníky, planeslietadlá --
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helikoptér, lietadiel –
01:38
where are the landscapeskrajiny where all of that stuffvec endskonce up?
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kde sú tie miesta, na ktorých všetky tieto veci skončia.
01:41
And to me, again, photographyfotografovanie was
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Pre mňa bola opäť fotografia
01:43
a way in whichktorý I could explorepreskúmať and researchvýskum the worldsvet,
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spôsobom, ktorým som mohol skúmať svet
01:46
and find those placesMiesta.
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a nájsť tieto miesta.
01:48
And anotherďalší ideanápad that I had as well,
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Ďalší nápad, ktorý som mal,
01:50
that was broughtpriniesla forwardvpred by an ecologistekológ --
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mi predložil jeden ekológ.
01:54
he basicallyv podstate did a calculationkalkulácia where
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Robil výpočty, v ktorých
01:57
he tookzobral one literliter of gasplynový and said,
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zobral jeden liter ropy a opýtal sa,
01:59
well, how much carbonuhlík it would take, and how much organicorganický materialmateriál?
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aké množstvo uhlíka a organického materiálu by na to bolo potrebné?
02:03
It was 23 metricmetrický tonston for one literliter.
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Bolo to 23 ton uhlíka na jeden liter ropy.
02:06
So wheneverkedykoľvek I fillvyplniť up my gasplynový,
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Takže vždy, keď tankujem,
02:08
I think of that literliter, and how much carbonuhlík.
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myslím na tieto čísla.
02:10
And I know that oilolej comesprichádza from the oceanoceán and phytoplanktonfytoplanktónu,
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Viem, že ropa pochádza z oceánu a fytoplanktónu.
02:13
but he did the calculationsvýpočty for our EarthZem
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Tento ekológ však urobil výpočty a pýtal sa,
02:16
and what it had to do to producevyrobiť that amountčiastka of energyenergie.
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koľko by trvalo našej planéte vyprodukovať takéto množstvo energie.
02:18
From the photosyntheticfotosynteticky growthrast,
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Fotosyntetickým procesom by
02:20
it would take 500 yearsleta of that growthrast
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trvalo 500 rokov,
02:23
to producevyrobiť what we use, the 30 billionmiliardy barrelssudy we use perza yearrok.
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aby vyprodukovala množstvo, ktoré spotrebujeme: 4,77 biliónov litrov ročne.
02:28
And that alsotaktiež broughtpriniesla me to the factskutočnosť that
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To ma priviedlo ku skutočnosti,
02:30
this posespózy suchtaký a riskriskovať to our societyspoločnosť.
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ktorá predstavuje obrovské riziko pre našu spoločnosť.
02:33
Looking at 30 billionmiliardy perza yearrok,
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So spotrebou 4,77 biliónov litrov ročne
02:38
we look at our two largestnajväčší suppliersdodávatelia,
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rátame s našimi najväčšími dodávateľmi,
02:40
SaudiSaudi ArabiaArábia and now CanadaKanada, with its dirtyšpinavý oilolej.
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Saudskou Arábiou a teraz už aj s Kanadou a jej špinavou ropou.
02:42
And togetherspolu they only formformulár about 15 yearsleta of supplydodávka.
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Spolu tvoria len 15 rokov zásob.
02:46
The wholecelý worldsvet, at 1.2 trillionbilión estimatedodhadované reservesrezervy,
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Celý svet so svojimi odhadovanými rezervami 190,7 biliónov litrov
02:49
only givesposkytuje us about 45 yearsleta.
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nám zabezpečí zhruba 45 rokov.
02:51
So, it's not a questionotázka of if, but a questionotázka of when
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Takže otázka nie je či, ale kedy
02:54
peakvrchol oilolej will come uponna us.
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dorazíme na ropné maximum.
02:56
So, to me, usingpoužitím photographyfotografovanie --
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Pre mňa je to fotenie,
02:58
and I feel that all of us need to now beginzačať to really
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ale myslím si, že je čas, aby každý využil
03:01
take the taskúloha of usingpoužitím our talentstalenty,
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svoj talent
03:03
our waysspôsoby of thinkingpremýšľanie,
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a spôsob myslenia
03:06
to beginzačať to dealobchod with what I think is probablypravdepodobne
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a začal sa zaoberať
03:08
one of the mostväčšina challengingnáročný issuesproblémy of our time,
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jednou z najväčších výziev našej doby.
03:11
how to dealobchod with our energyenergie crisiskríza.
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Ako sa popasovať s energetickou krízou.
03:13
And I would like to say that, on the other sidebočné of it,
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Na druhej strane tohto všetkého by som tiež chcel povedať, že
03:15
30, 40 yearsleta from now, the childrendeti that I have,
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o 30, 40 rokov sa budem môcť pozrieť
03:17
I can look at them and say, "We did everything
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na svoje deti a povedať im: "Urobili sme všetko,
03:19
we possiblymožná, humanlyľudsky could do,
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čo bolo v našich ľudských silách,
03:22
to beginzačať to mitigatezmiernenie this,
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aby sme veci zmiernili."
03:25
what I feel is one of the mostväčšina importantdôležitý and criticalkritický
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To, myslím si, je jeden z najdôležitejších a najkritickejších
03:27
momentsmomenty in our time. Thank you.
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momentov nášho života. Ďakujem.
03:30
(ApplausePotlesk)
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(Potlesk)
Translated by Barbora Pucikova
Reviewed by Tomas Sooky

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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