Arctic Imagination: Photographer Edward Burtynsky (CA)

The event is part of the Arctic Imagination series, which focuses on an Arctic in rapid change through international conversations between artists, researchers and writers. Since Burtynsky was 11 years old, when he was given a camera and a darkroom by his father, he has developed his practice. He has since become world-renowned for his large-format photographs of the changing nature. They act as a testimony, an insight into the landscapes that have been influenced by man. The industrial landscapes – oil fields, mine pits, cramped highway links – are both a consequence of human activity and a necessity for sustaining our modern life.

Intentional landscapes

In an Arctic Imagination talk last year in Canada with Minik Rosing, Burtynsky defined what he photographs as intentional landscapes: they are not created by chance, but through planning, permits and exploitation. For Burtynsky, it is important not to understand the landscapes as something we are not a part of. In the interview, he explains: "when someone says this is a disaster landscape, I say, well, if that is a disaster landscape, then so is everything in your life […] your house, your car, getting on a plane, all of that".

The Anthropocene

The Anthroprocene Project is the title of one of Burtynsky's projects, which includes both photography, film and virtual reality to investigate the condition, dynamics and future of the planet. The Anthropocene contains the idea that we have entered a new geological epoch, where human activity leaves visible and lasting imprints on the earth, and functions as a recurring theme in Burtynky's artistic work. The photographs bring what is an extension of our habitat up close and reveal a dilemma in our modern life; the need to live the good life in the face of the realisation that nature is under enormous pressure. We are both attracted and repelled by Burtynsky's landscapes, where the human scale has disappeared. During the conversation, Burtynsky's works will be projected onto the cinema-sized screen of the Queen's Hall.

Look forward to meet 

Edward Burtynsky

Edward Burtynsky graduated from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute with a degree in Photographic arts. His works are included in the collections of more than 80 museums worldwide. Larger exhibitions with the titles Anthropocene (2018), Water (2013), Oil (2009), China (2005) and Manufactured Landscapes (2003). Edward Burtynsky has received several acknowledgements for his work as a photographer and activist. In 2022, he was inducted into The International Photography Hall of Fame.

Minik Rosing

Dr. Minik Thorleif Rosing is a world-renowned geologist from Greenland. Among Minik’s many titles and accomplishments, he is a professor of geology at the University of Copenhagen, previous leader of Danish ship-based scientific research expedition Galathea 3, and one of the artists behind Icewatch—a series of melting glacier ice blocks positioned in clock-formation outside notable places of governance.

Arctic Imagination

Arctic Imagination has been created in collaboration between the Royal Danish Library and a number of players in Canada such as the Sphere Festival, the National Arts Centre and the Canadian Museum of Nature. Arctic Imagination focuses on an Arctic in change and crisis, an Arctic with melting ice, as a powerful symbol, a mythological, inspiring landscape and a geopolitical factor. Here, the world's most pressing problems are discussed by writers, artists and experts who have the issues very close to their hearts and bodies.