

Michel and Sally Strauss Contemporary Photography Collection
28
Edward Burtynsky
Rice Terraces #2, Western Yunnan Province, China
2012
Chromogenic print, flush-mounted.
Image: 121.5 x 162.8 cm (47 7/8 x 64 1/8 in.)
Frame: 124.5 x 165.3 cm (49 x 65 1/8 in.)
Frame: 124.5 x 165.3 cm (49 x 65 1/8 in.)
Signed in ink, printed title, date and number 1/6 on an artist label affixed to the reverse of the flush-mount.
Full-Cataloguing
How does water shape us? And how do we shape water? Edward Burtynsky has spent the best part of 30 years examining man’s relationship to the natural world. In Water, his most recent body of work, he presents us with breathtaking aerial views in an attempt to answer such questions. This image is appearing at auction for the first time.
Edward Burtynsky
Canadian | 1955Universally termed 'industrial landscapes', Edward Burtynsky's photographs are rooted in the complex, symbiotic and, at times, destructive relationship we have with the earth. In depicting his subjects, Burtynsky balances an exacting, documentarian objectivity with a breathtakingly finessed beauty. His oversized works, whose subjects include quarries in Vermont, shipyards in China and oil refineries in Canada, have a sense of grandiosity and monumentality. There is an initial visual appeal of vibrant colors, details and scale; however, on closer inspection, the environmental dilemma unfolds. They are introspective and meditative, capturing a 'contemplative moment' where landscapes provide visual and emotional resonance.