The photographer I decided to critique is Edward
Burtynsky and his work Oil:
Transportation. In every picture
that is included in this project, there is some kind of transportation, mostly
consisting of cars and trucks. There is a lot of motion in these photographs.
The first six are photographs of highways and are captured from a high vantage
point. They are very detailed and show the twists and turns on the highways and
inner belts. The all the photographs are in color, but the ones consisting of
the highways are dominantly gray and white because the highway takes up most of
the picture. The highways look like long
thin lines that run next to on another and on top of each other. One photograph
that sticks out to me is titled Highway
#2. It is taken from a very high vantage point looking down onto the
highway. This photograph is so striking to me because the bright white highway
sticks out from on top of the dark ground under it. It’s so much for my eyes to
take in, because there is so much activity. Between the cars on the highway,
the design of the road, and the buildings in the background I want to know what
everything is exactly. Just by looking at the photograph itself, I don’t think
you be able to exact distinguish where the photo was taken. However under every
picture there is a title, location, and year that explain the photograph where
it was captured. All of the pictures of the highways were taken in large and
busy cities such as Houston, Los Angeles, New Jersey, and Shanghai.
All the images represent the transportation we use in
our everyday lives. It expresses how busy we are and how much oil and resources
we use in order to meet our daily needs. I think the fact that our culture is
so materialistic and wasteful influenced the photographer to take these
pictures. We waste resources more than we use them, and don’t think twice about
it. The work is responding to our awful habits and not taking better care of
our planet and restoring our resources. The work can address anyone who drives
a car or uses transportation. It also targets wasteful people. This work brings
attention to a topic that is discussed a lot, but not always taken seriously.
These photographs give me a bird’s eye view of the harmful effects that our
lifestyles inflict on the world. When we discuss pollution we are used to
seeing garbage, oil spills, and smog. This shines light on the same subject but
in a different view. We get a large-scale view of everyday activity that is
harmful towards the environment. We may not recognize all the harmful gases and
chemicals that are being released in the picture, but if you look at it long
enough you can think about all the noise pollution and resources that were used
up.
I read Edward Burtynsky’s artistic statement on his
website and it was very similar towards mine. He took these pictures and used
the images as metaphors to the problems we currently face in our world. He
claims we are drawn by desire- a good lifestyle, however we are unintentionally
hurting our environment and risking the health of the animals and plants. In a
hundred years our planet may look very different, and these pictures “function
as reflecting pools of our times”.
I am in awe of this project. I think it is very
successful and Burtynsky’s ideas and beliefs are communicated clearly in his
work. You can tell he knows how to take a pleasant looking picture even if the
meaning behind it is negative. The frame, vantage point, and colors are amazing
and give a stunning view. I loved exploring his website and looking at his
other bodies of work.
http://www.edwardburtynsky.com
