In a conference broadcasted online by TED, a small nonprofit devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading,” Burtynsky says, “After 17 years of photographing large industrial landscapes it occurred to me that oil was underpinning the scale and speed of which we are taking all our resources.”

Many artists and photographers cover oil spills, but Burtynsky focuses on three main concepts. He looks at the extraction of oil from the ground, how it is used in our cities and motor culture, and the idea of the end of oil.  
“Edward Burtynsky: Oil” chronicles the demand for oil and the consequences of obtaining this critical fuel through 60 large-format images that depict these pillaged and abandoned landscapes.

Starting his journey 30 years ago, Burtynsky worked in mines and it was only there he realized how it was a world unseen and unknown by outsiders. He spent years immersing himself in coming up with a body of work that would become a symbol of how humanity uses the land.

He thought photography was best suited for this type of work. “Through this use of photography we can contemplate these landscapes,” says Burtynsky. “Photography was a way in which I can explore and explain that world and find those places.”

His first chapter captures views on the extraction of oil and the landscape left behind in mankind’s conquests for it. Burtynsky travelled all over, from California to Baku, Azerbaijan. He also journeyed across Canada, which has the world’s second-largest oil reserves, to reveal haunting photos of desolate plants, fields, sands and refineries that produce this critical fuel.  

The second chapter takes a look at how we use oil in our cities and our culture — particularly our motor culture, where Burtynsky says “we gather around a vehicle as a celebration.” He photographs a Trucker’s Jamboree in Iowa, a Volkswagen lot in China, suburban areas in Nevada and bird’s-eye views of the weaving California highways. By focusing on sites and areas we are familiar with, Burtynsky brings awareness of the oil issue in these accustomed places.

Burtynsky’s final chapter highlights the end of oil. It is where all our parts, cars, tires, oil filters, helicopters and planes are discarded, and the landscape that houses this rejected junk. The most haunting image is of the thousands of tire mounds and the burning tire piles.

It’s gripping to say the least, and it makes you think about the impact you personally are creating. It generates discussion and hopefully change. Burtynsky says, “I feel that all of us should now begin to retake the task of using our talents, our ways of thinking to begin to deal with probably one of the most challenging issues of all time — how to deal with our energy crisis.” •