4 ms·

Edward Burtynsky's monumental chronicle of the human impact on the planet

123 points by pseudolus 1y ago

pseudolus 1y ago
https://archive.ph/hTj6w https://archive.ph/hTj6w
- linusg789 1y ago
  http://web.archive.org/web/20250713051005/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/earths-poet-of-scale http://web.archive.org/web/20250713051005/https://www.newyor...
cardamomo 1y ago
There's a fantastic documentary about Burtynsky's work, Manufactured Landscapes. I highly recommend it, even if you just watch the opening. https://www.edwardburtynsky.com/projects/films/manufactured-landscapes https://www.edwardburtynsky.com/projects/films/manufactured-...
- Duanemclemore 1y ago
  It's actually the first in what became a series! Watermark [0] and The Anthropocene[1] are both phenomenal. In fact, in terms of cinematography, I think Watermark is the best. Manufactured Landscapes was absolutely earth-shattering in my own consideration of humans and our ecologies though. If you find yourself liking Burtynsky may I also suggest checking out Richard Misrach and the classic book of Manfred Hamm photography, Dead Tech [2]. (We'd be remiss to leave out the contributions of Jennifer Baichwal to all three films and Nicholas de Pencier on The Anthropocene.) [0] https://www.edwardburtynsky.com/projects/films/watermark https://www.edwardburtynsky.com/projects/films/watermark [1] https://www.edwardburtynsky.com/projects/films/anthropocene-the-human-epoch/ https://www.edwardburtynsky.com/projects/films/anthropocene-... [2] https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Tech-Guide-Archaeology-Tomorrow/dp/094051222X https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Tech-Guide-Archaeology-Tomorrow/... (Only linked to Amazon because people have posted images)
  - cardamomo 1y ago
    Wow, thanks for telling me! I watched Manufactured Landscapes back before the other two had come out and hadn't heard about the rest of the trilogy.
- cnr 1y ago
  The whole movie is available on Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/ManufacturedLandscapes_201902 https://archive.org/details/ManufacturedLandscapes_201902
- ethan_smith 1y ago
  Burtynsky's environmental trilogy is worth exploring in full: Manufactured Landscapes (2006), Watermark (2013), and Anthropocene: The Human Epoch (2018).
  - bookofjoe 1y ago
    All three available to stream on Prime Video
atoav 1y ago
The first picture must be these windmills that ruin the landscape. /s
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
pseudolus 1y ago
Link to the show at the International Center of Photography (NYC): https://www.icp.org/exhibitions/edward-burtynsky-great-acceleration https://www.icp.org/exhibitions/edward-burtynsky-great-accel... Petapixel article with more photos and commentary: https://petapixel.com/2025/06/24/photographer-edward-burtynsky-captures-terrifying-things-humans-have-done-to-the-planet/ https://petapixel.com/2025/06/24/photographer-edward-burtyns...
jebarker 1y ago
I just finished reading “The Sixth Extinction” and it’s hard not to just feel sadness at many of these pictures. The economic benefits of this rapid human development are undeniable but the impact on earth as a whole is pretty horrifying.
- frogperson 1y ago
  That book put me in a really bad place for more than a year. It was so depressing, i just couldnt shake the inevitablity of it all. The fascist take over of the US has been a quaint distraction, but in the end it also means nothing compared to the collapse of the food chain. You cant eat dollars.
  - jebarker 1y ago
    Yeah, the dissonance of day to day stresses and societal issues with mass extinction is hard to deal with. I’m currently putting together a pile of a few books that claim to have pragmatic but optimistic/hopeful views of where we go from here.
    - vitorbaptistaa 1y ago
      Any good suggestions so far? The best I read was Not The End of The World by Hannah Ritchie from Our World in Data.
      - jebarker 1y ago
        Thanks for the suggestion. Two I’ve already read that I thought were decent were Bill Gate’s “How to avoid a climate disaster” and Kim Stanley Robinson’s “Ministry for the Future”. I have Drawdown next on my list.
AndrewKemendo 1y ago
Scarcely different than the world shown in WALL-E or idiocracy

123 points by pseudolus 1y ago

pseudolus 1y ago

https://archive.ph/hTj6w https://archive.ph/hTj6w

linusg789 1y ago
http://web.archive.org/web/20250713051005/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/photo-booth/earths-poet-of-scale http://web.archive.org/web/20250713051005/https://www.newyor...

cardamomo 1y ago

There's a fantastic documentary about Burtynsky's work, Manufactured Landscapes. I highly recommend it, even if you just watch the opening. https://www.edwardburtynsky.com/projects/films/manufactured-landscapes https://www.edwardburtynsky.com/projects/films/manufactured-...

Duanemclemore 1y ago
It's actually the first in what became a series! Watermark [0] and The Anthropocene[1] are both phenomenal. In fact, in terms of cinematography, I think Watermark is the best. Manufactured Landscapes was absolutely earth-shattering in my own consideration of humans and our ecologies though. If you find yourself liking Burtynsky may I also suggest checking out Richard Misrach and the classic book of Manfred Hamm photography, Dead Tech [2]. (We'd be remiss to leave out the contributions of Jennifer Baichwal to all three films and Nicholas de Pencier on The Anthropocene.) [0] https://www.edwardburtynsky.com/projects/films/watermark https://www.edwardburtynsky.com/projects/films/watermark [1] https://www.edwardburtynsky.com/projects/films/anthropocene-the-human-epoch/ https://www.edwardburtynsky.com/projects/films/anthropocene-... [2] https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Tech-Guide-Archaeology-Tomorrow/dp/094051222X https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Tech-Guide-Archaeology-Tomorrow/... (Only linked to Amazon because people have posted images)
- cardamomo 1y ago
  Wow, thanks for telling me! I watched Manufactured Landscapes back before the other two had come out and hadn't heard about the rest of the trilogy.
cnr 1y ago
The whole movie is available on Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/ManufacturedLandscapes_201902 https://archive.org/details/ManufacturedLandscapes_201902
ethan_smith 1y ago
Burtynsky's environmental trilogy is worth exploring in full: Manufactured Landscapes (2006), Watermark (2013), and Anthropocene: The Human Epoch (2018).
- bookofjoe 1y ago
  All three available to stream on Prime Video

atoav 1y ago

The first picture must be these windmills that ruin the landscape. /s

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

pseudolus 1y ago

Link to the show at the International Center of Photography (NYC): https://www.icp.org/exhibitions/edward-burtynsky-great-acceleration https://www.icp.org/exhibitions/edward-burtynsky-great-accel... Petapixel article with more photos and commentary: https://petapixel.com/2025/06/24/photographer-edward-burtynsky-captures-terrifying-things-humans-have-done-to-the-planet/ https://petapixel.com/2025/06/24/photographer-edward-burtyns...

jebarker 1y ago

I just finished reading “The Sixth Extinction” and it’s hard not to just feel sadness at many of these pictures. The economic benefits of this rapid human development are undeniable but the impact on earth as a whole is pretty horrifying.

frogperson 1y ago
That book put me in a really bad place for more than a year. It was so depressing, i just couldnt shake the inevitablity of it all. The fascist take over of the US has been a quaint distraction, but in the end it also means nothing compared to the collapse of the food chain. You cant eat dollars.
- jebarker 1y ago
  Yeah, the dissonance of day to day stresses and societal issues with mass extinction is hard to deal with. I’m currently putting together a pile of a few books that claim to have pragmatic but optimistic/hopeful views of where we go from here.
  - vitorbaptistaa 1y ago
    Any good suggestions so far? The best I read was Not The End of The World by Hannah Ritchie from Our World in Data.
    - jebarker 1y ago
      Thanks for the suggestion. Two I’ve already read that I thought were decent were Bill Gate’s “How to avoid a climate disaster” and Kim Stanley Robinson’s “Ministry for the Future”. I have Drawdown next on my list.

AndrewKemendo 1y ago

Scarcely different than the world shown in WALL-E or idiocracy