Lavin Exclusive Speaker
World-renowned photographer Edward Burtynsky creates stunning photos—“reflecting pools of our time”—that explore large-scale social, political, and economic issues, including water, oil, and the upheaval caused by rapid industrialization and climate change. On stage, he talks about the connection between art and social transformation, human nature and consumption, and industry and environment.
Edward Burtynsky’s remarkable photographic depictions of global industrial landscapes are included in the collections of over fifty major museums around the world, including the National Gallery of Canada and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. His life and work are the subjects of numerous magazine profiles, including The New Yorker, and award-winning documentaries Watermark, Manufactured Landscapes, and Anthropocene, all of which he co-directed with Jennifer Baichwal and Nicolas de Pencier. Anthropocene was recognized by Variety as one of the Best Documentaries of 2019. Watermark was awarded the $100,000 Best Canadian Film Award from the Toronto Film Critics Association.
Burtynsky’s exhibitions, which have all been published as books, include Residual Landscapes, Manufactured Landscapes, Before the Flood, China, Quarries, Oil, and Water. Burtynsky’s photos explore the complicated link between industry and nature, combining the raw elements of mining, quarrying, manufacturing, shipping, oil production, and recycling into highly expressive visions that find beauty and humanity in the most unlikely of places.
Burtynsky is the founder of Toronto Image Works, a custom photo laboratory, digital imaging and new media centre catering to all levels of Toronto's art community. He has spoken widely, including at the Library of Congress in Washington, and was one of the first recipients of the TED Prize. He is also an Officer of the Order of Canada and was named one of Canada’s Greatest Explorers by Canadian Geographic. He is the recipient of the Governor General’s Visual & Media Arts Award. At the 2019 Lucie awards at Carnegie Hall, honoring the greatest achievements in photography, Burtynsky won the award for Achievement in Documentary.
In partnership with the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, he announced the creation of The Burtynsky Grant, awarded to a Canadian photographic artist to support the publication of their photography book. In November 2019, The Royal Canadian Geographical Society presented him with the Gold Medal for his work in environmental photography.