Manufactured Landscapes

Today in Materials and Processes we viewed a documentary, called Manufactured Landscapes (Jennifer Baichwal 2006) about the photographic work of Ed Burtynsky.  This film provides photographs and videos from Burtynsky on his trip through different landscapes.  These weren’t what we typically think of as a landscape.  No mountains, deserts, or vast prairies.  Instead, he observed landscapes that had been altered by human activity.  This included factories, e-waste, debris, etc.   We have all realized that all the different products we use day in and day out came from somewhere, but we never picture that place in our head.  Burtynsky let’s us view this new landscape.  However, with all of this destruction, waste, and trash, there is beauty in his photographs.  Burtynsky takes these shots of things that are so bad, and produces something with aesthetic.  This is slightly confusing, right?  Burtynsky didn’t want to present the worlds problems in black and white.  He doesn’t explain what we are seeing, but let’s us decide for ourselves what these pictures mean.  As human beings, we have changed the nature of our planet: the air, water, land, etc.  Burtynsky explains that we are creating problems that run deep.  It’s far from simply deciding right from wrong, but it’s a new way of thinking that will help us improve the world.   Burtynsky explains this theory in the film Manufactured Landscapes (Jennifer Baichwal 2006), by providing videos and photography that let us, as designers and consumers, decide what we need to do to minimize waste and it’s impact on our planet.