Yesterday, the (IPCC) issued their most alarming warning yet on the dramatic effects of rising global temperatures. They warned that we’re currently veering off track from the target of minimising temperature rises to under 1.5° C and that we’re already seeing the impact this – that summer you just enjoyed was a direct result of global warming.
But in a world with so much scaremongering, we’re becoming desensitised to reports like this. Have we really got to a point in society where even experts have lost their authority? Perhaps then, we should be giving time to someone who’s been documenting the dramatic transformations our planet undergoes at the hands of human consumption.
But let’s pause for a moment and think about everything we consume. Now let’s wonder where all those resources have come from.
It’s a difficult concept to comprehend. Or maybe, we tend not to because we don’t want to know. But if you need a helping hand, Edward Burtynsky has been depicting how industry often ravages natural landscapes. This is one of the reasons why we love photography and cinematography – showing the impact of our actions often has a resonance that other mediums can only dream of.
[We] come from nature.…There is an importance to [having] a certain reverence for what nature is because we are connected to it… If we destroy nature, we destroy ourselves. – Edward Burtynsky
On Wednesday 17th October, Edward Burtynsky is joined by award-winning journalist Gaia Vince at to talk about these very issues. Following the conversation will be a screening of ‘Manufactured Landscapes’, Jennifer Baichwal’s feature-length documentary on the work of Edward Burtynsky.
The film follows him through China as he photographs the effect of the country’s industrial revolution. It does not attempt to pass judgement or provide facile resolutions as the issue is immensely complex and, as the IPCC suggests, requires sweeping changes and heavy investment. Instead, it merely presents the impact of our actions so it can dwell in our consciousness. It shows, in a stark light that demands attention, our dependence on nature.
Edward Burtynsky in conversation with Gaia Vince & ‘Manufactured Landscapes’
The Regent Street Cinema, London
Wednesday 17th October