Edward Burtynsky
(1955–)
Edward Burtynsky
1955–
Edward Burtynsky (1955– ) is a Canadian photographer known for his large format photographs of global industrial landscapes such as oil fields, mining, and quarries. Burtynsky’s photographs explore the impact humans have on the surrounding environment.
Burtynsky was born in St. Catharines, Ontario. In 1982, he received his BAA in photography and media studies from Ryerson University in Toronto. Burtynsky established Toronto Image Works in 1985, a commercial photography lab, which has evolved into a facility that also offers darkroom rentals, new-media courses, and equipment use.
His photographs are included in collections of over sixty museums worldwide, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Museum of Modern Art, the Tate Modern, the Guggenheim Museum in New York, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in California. He has had several travelling exhibitions such as Water (2013) at the New Orleans Museum of Art and Oil (2009) at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. His photographs have also been featured in publications such as Canadian Art, The Smithsonian Magazine, Art Forum and The New York Times.
In 2006, he was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of Canada. Additionally, he was the recipient of the Arts and Letters Award at the Canadian Association of New York’s annual Maple Leaf Ball in March 2019. Burtynsky has lectured regularly on photography at the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Library of Congress in Washington, and Ryerson University in Toronto.
