Edward Burtynsky

 

The latest Burtynsky exhibit, Oil, is currently installed in the Corcoran Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C. Leaving the fam on the train for their long weekend in NYC, I walked across the city to the gallery to see this collection of phenomenal and extremely unsettling photographs, which is on display until December 13.

I'll admit to being hugely influenced by Burtynsky's work. Not all the images in the show are new, as they represent twelve years of his work from around the world, newly organized into a more potent theme than they have been grouped before. All his images represent massive consumption of resources, often showing the land from which the raw materials for the goods of our lives are extracted. Here there are two rooms of images from the oil fields in California west of Bakersfield around Belridge and Taft, and the oil sands of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, along with oil refineries in Houston, Texas and elsewhere.

From extraction and processing, he moves to consumption and motor culture, with mostly aerial images of highway interchanges, vast fleets of new automobiles awaiting distribution, and Las Vegas suburban sprawl stretching to the mountains at the horizon. Two fascinating landscape photos of motor culture show a motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. One is in the center of town from an elevated perspective with thousands of motorcycles stretching to the horizon. The other is later that same day, a classic landscape of the surrounding mountains on the horizon, a beautiful evening sunset lighting the sky, the foreground filled with cars and bikes in the parking lot of a Kiss concert.

The final section is what Burtynsky terms "the end of oil." It consists of images of shattered oil fields in Azerbaijan, aircraft junkyards, the Oxford, California tire pile, massive collections of recycled oil filters and metal drums, and finally the oil tanker ship breaking operations in Bangladesh.

Much of this has been seen before in Manufactured Landscapes, but it's my first exposure to the large scale prints that Burtynsky creates for his large format photographs. The amount of detail can be overwhelming, as when I stood in the corner of one gallery and surveyed the images of the tire pile and densified oil filters and oil barrels and had to catch my breath at the sheer magnitude of the consumption. In another era, it would have been our awe at the sights of the Grand Canyon. Now our feelings of the sublime are wonder and guilt, in equal measures, at the use – and disposal – of so many natural resources.

It has been objected that Burtynsky's photographs are a gee whiz wonder at an exceptional phenomena. No doubt his production budgets are substantial, and in order to make it worth his while, he endeavors to find the biggest and most extreme example of whatever resource usage he wants to document. But the fact remains that these excessive conditions do exist, and on a global level are even more extreme than Burtynsky can document.

See the exhibit if you can, or look at his books. They are an uncomfortable reminder that nothing we do on this planet is without consequences, and when aggregated on a global scale, they become profound consequences.

All works hung on walls are by Edward Burtynsky.

seasonal greetings

What's with this "holiday" anyway?

Colorneg - TECH ALERT!

Listen up, all you Luddites. If you're still using film, and scanning images into the computer, you may need this plug-in for PS. I read about ColorNeg a year or so ago, and tried the demo version, which is fully functional but saves files with a grid over them. For whatever reason, it didn't seem to suit me at the time. Recently I tried it again and am much more favorably impressed, to the point that I purchased a copy. This permits use of registered copies of ColorPos and GamSat as well, all of which require 48 bit scans as input. For the color 4 x 5 negatives as scanned by Vuescan @ 1600 dpi x 16bit, my files are approximately 252 meg in size. Rather massive, but in fact PhotoPaint X4 gets around them without too much trouble even using the four year old Dell box. The point of this name dropping is that this is finally a way to scan problem color negative film that has never scanned consistently with the Epson software for the V700. You might want to give it a try - and let me know of your experiences.

widespread murder

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This landscape has been noticed over the years, if not daily, certainly frequently. What's with all the dead trees? There must be 30 - 50 mature sized trees that are standing dead. Where there's curiosity, there's a photograph - or three. Little was I prepared for what I found.

What I found is clear in the last four photos, but may not be apparent without some words. All the trees have been intentionally killed - by the hand of some tool wielding human with a plan. Since I was trespassing on the land, I have no idea who the owner is, or what their intention for it is. One can only imagine scenarios for what was in the mind of the perpetrator, and whether he was indeed the land owner or some wronged party seeking revenge.

As a member of a society that takes great stock in individual rights, and especially the rights of land owners, I can't really dispute what an owner does with the resources on his land. Although as a civil society we do indeed regulate with a high degree what land owners are permitted to build on their property. But in this instance, whether this land owner kills his trees over a period of several years, or chooses to rip them out and mulch them in a matter of days in the course of "improving" his land, I really have no place to say much.

Nonetheless, it makes me wonder what was going on in the mind of the hatchet man while he systematically went around this piece of property and cut a ring in the periderm of all the mature trees, a simple but surefire way to terminate the organisms.

15th annual Spirit Walk

Once more, I participate in the annual Historical Society fund raiser. This year's Sprit Walk, during which groups of patrons are guided along a tour of the historic areas of Charlottesville and encounter well known locals of the day, portrayed by volunteer actors, will take place October 23 - 25. This year I will try to find something of the character of Benjamin Franklin Ficklin, born in 1827, rasied in Charlottesville, and buried there next to his parents, with many an adventure in between.

on the level

It must have something to do with working as a carpenter and owning various tools that determine if the built world we create is a close approximation of some standard of level. When it comes to photography, many, if not all of my compositions of architecture or elements that are square or level in nature are approached in a way that preserves this “levelosity.” It's really hard for me to compose horizontals out of level. The verticals are ordinarily attended to by the view camera that has become my standard tool. It has a level bubble on it, or in the case of the Sinar, three, to make sure that I get the world captured in a level manner. In many instances there is also a symmetry issue to contend with, which one either has to consciously destroy, or submit to the designer's intent.

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Mike C. at the always provocative Idiotic-Hat blog has recently written about his tendency to try to get grids square with the edges of the frame. He displays an admirable technique in that he prefers not to work with a tripod, and certainly not a view camera or tilt-shift lenses.

This recent photo is definitely a step in a different direction for me. The original concept was to approach the wall in a typical manner: head on. Eventually that's not what seemed to work best. Not that this is a radical departure, but perhaps it will help me become more comfortable with compositions of buildings that are “out of level.”

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An interesting observation after the fact is that normal perspective has been reversed here: near portions of the building are smaller than distant sections. Possibly something to work on in the future.

words of wisdom

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Couldn't find them, after all.

my very own Eggleston - red Avenger included

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Drummond Island, MI. 10 August 2009

William Eggleston's democratic camera

The show of William Eggleston's work, a retrospective that encompasses material from 1960 through 2008, closes at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Sept. 20, 2009. You've got two more weeks to see one of photography's more influential practitioners, if you're anywhere near the nation's capital. In my book, an excellent reason to make a trip.

And so we did on a recent Sunday morning. I was at the door minutes after the 10am opening, and was one of the first visitors to the gallery for the day. Somewhat confusingly arranged, it didn't really make much difference to the impact of the show. The first gallery contains mostly prints from The Guide, all color dye transfer prints in the 11 x 14 range, matted with 8 ply white museum board, framed behind glass with a narrow white frame. It's wonderful to see these prints in person, after the varieties that can be encountered with publishing. To the left of the first gallery is a small room that contains black & white work from the early '60's. The other direction leads into a central gallery that contains four video monitors and several seats for watching a long loop of the Stranded in Canton video work that Eggleston did around the same time, and with the same sorts of people who appear in the book 5 x 7. On the walls hang large prints from the 5 x 7 series, all of them portraits of late night denizens of Denny's restaurants and bars. From this room is another large gallery divided into two sections that contains work from Eggleston's Graceland and Election Eve, and Troubled Waters and Los Alamos. Leaving the video gallery the other direction leads into another large gallery showing the most recent work from around the world, and includes lightjet prints in the 16 x 20 inch range, again matted behind glass and framed with white frames.

There is no denying Eggleston's influence. His "democratic" approach to subject matter, which leads him to find his subject matter any place he turns his gaze, with no material given priority, elevates the mundane into the realms of art. His use of color, for which he is at least as famous, is much more complex. Was it a conscious artistic decision, or that of a documentarist looking to show his material more "realistically?"

When the exhibition catalogue that I've ordered arrives, I'll be able to compare the printing quality to the recent reprint of The Guide. By all means, see this show if it is available.

a dilemma

With an hour or so prior to breakfast to find some material for a photograph the morning of Monday, August 10, I headed out Humm's Road, crossed the single lane bridge over the 5 mile road from the dolomite mine to the processing plant, and continued to the end of the road, where I pulled off to the side and parked well out of the way. No one was in sight, but I could hear the distant thrum of the powerful processing plant where immense slabs of dolomite rock are crushed into a powder used in steel and float glass manufacturing.

After a quick preview of a potential site beside an abandoned pit mine, I returned, set up the Linhof, and recorded this image, now found in the Exploring the Wilderness slide show. There were potential images everywhere, and I fully intended to return later the same day, but it was time to return to the bosom of the fam who was patiently waiting for me to do some breakfast.

I returned to the rented Red Dodge Avenger and opened the trunk lid without opening the doors to the cab, experimenting to see if this could be done. Indeed, it works. I absently put the key ring with both of the two keys to the car on the latch mechanism inside the trunk, noticed that it dropped out of sight into the trunk, and swung my pack off my back and into the trunk. It took only another couple of moments to arrange the pack and the tripod. Perhaps only twenty seconds had elapsed since I set down the keys, but nonetheless, in a haze of empty headed blankness, I slammed the lid of the trunk shut - with the keys inside. It took another five seconds for the severity of my stupidity to sink in. I was at the end of a deserted road two miles from an intersection with the main thoroughfare through the island along which vehicles only traveled every hour when the ferry unloaded. I had absolutely no means of communication: our phones didn't work on the island, and I hadn't bothered with the walkie-talkies because I would be out of range. Indeed I was at least ten miles from the cabin where the family awaited my return before they commenced their day's activities.

What is to be done? Firstly, assign blame. That was easily accomplished for the next five minutes as I circled the mocking vehicle while I bellowed repeated admissions of my mental minuteness. Ultimately, what's the answer?

Start walking...

return

Definitely in the spirit of Joe Reifer's admonition to turn off the phone and the internet, our recent days of travel the length of the state of Michigan were a mostly relaxing time away from the life of the everyday. Certainly not a technology free trip, since we did have a newish rental car, an ipod for the teen, a phone that ceased to function once we crossed the Mackinac Bridge, along with several digi cams, a complete 4x5 outfit with 20 sheets of quickload film, walkie talkies, and credit cards. But mostly, free time was spent in the outdoors, eating, reading books and magazines, and with cameras. It baffles me why people want to go on vacation and be in constant contact with their ordinary daily life. It seems the point is to vacate the daily routine and find something new.

 

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Our travels took us in search of the perfect ice cream in Traverse City, sour cherries in Central Lake, pancakes while at the Drummond Island Resort, a car key locked in the trunk on the west end of Drummond Island, a fly less dusk during the two days of summer to hit Grand Marais, a student revolution in Ann Arbor. Only partial success with all of these endeavors. But there are tales to tell. Stay tuned for more.

away

We're off for the annual restoration, once again to Michigan. No computer in tow, so posting will likely be sporadic. Hope y'all have a wonderful summer, wherever you might be.

something or other

amanata cokericollybia?These things seemingly appear overnight, showing the incredible diversity around here. An interesting fact from reading about fungi is that they are now considered to be their own kingdom in the classification system of lifeforms - neither plant nor animal.

Folio Swap

Mark Hobson, the Landscapist, is in the process of creating a print folio exchange location. This could be a wonderful opportunity to see and be seen with real paper prints, in a manner other than on the web. See more details here and here.

Ragged Mountain Natural Area revisted

No reason it should have taken so long to make this available - other than the usual film based procrastination excuses. It's now been added to the Exploring the Wilderness slideshow.

post modern condition?

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This is my addition to Mauro Thon Giudici's category - also satisfying a co-worker's request for images of the current work site. Despite it's publication in the April 1986 issue of Architectural Digest, this small dwelling's appearance is one much debated amongst all who visit during this phase of reconstruction - surely the first that has ever been done to this house. Say what you will about its design, all workers are agreed upon the lack of a touch with reality exhibited by the architects. We're convinced that designers should be forced to live with the results of their labors. This one has an appalling lack of practiical detail concerning the roof. After twenty plus years, there is an unusual amount of rot in the sheathing. Not throughout, but certainly in large areas that should not have had any problems if it had been designed and built correctly the first time.

The wilderness could stand to be cut back some to permit the house to exist.

an end to the trail

It's taken some five or six years to make the circuit, but we've traversed as much of the Rivanna Trail as we can find, and travelled all the way around the city of Charlottesville. There are sections where the trail follows local streets due to access problems. And there are gaps in the trail, the most obvious being the final section we followed along Moore's Creek from Quarry Park to the confluence with the Rivanna River. There quite simply is no way to cross Moore's Creek except on the railroad trestle - an act of tresspass - or wade through water that is heavily tainted by the outfall from a sewage treatment plant. It also appears that once across Moore's Creek there is a short section with no trail markers along the Rivanna River through Woolen Mills to the section we began with at Riverview Park a number of years ago. A great concept nicely executed still in progress.

on the trail

Thought we were going to be able to finish our walk around the city on the Rivanna Trail this weekend, with only a couple miles remaining. Alas we lost the trail where it crossed a major road, since we couldn't find the trail sign on the far side of the road bridge buried in the undergrowth half way up the hill. We know it's there because we walked on local streets to the next park, found the entrance to the trail and walked back to where we lost the trail with the sign buried in the underbrush. Which leaves one last section from Quarry Park out to the Rivanna River along Moore's Creek past the water treatment facility for Charlottesville.

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Ragged Mountain Natural Area

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It's unusual to find water projects such a subject of controversy here in the eastern U.S. But this 980 acre parkland is the site of a county/city reservoir, with a proposed upgrade to the dam, to the tune of some $143 million, has understandably stirred up a lot of emotion. The proposed modifications will increase the lake size substantially in the hopes that it will be adequate for the coming fifty years. BUT it will require pumping the water through a new nine mile pipeline from another lower county reservoir, which will be abandoned instead of being dredged because consultants (for the dam project) have estimated the cost of that remediation at some $200 million. Meanwhile, local business people and dredging experts have proposed the work might only cost $20 - 40 million, still a hefty chunk of change. The increased dam and lake will necessitate the loss of 180 acres of mature hardwoods in the Ragged Mountain reserve - along with the trail visible above, and be spanned by an interstate highway.

The issue seems to be whether conservation and dredging can provide adequate sources of water for years to come. Or whether plans need to be made to increase the storage capacity to meet disputed growth needs. A typical controversy that involves disputed numbers, conflicts of interest, hidden information. At least the details seem to be out in the open now, so that all the trade offs can be considered reasonably. Will the debate continue for another 25 years, as the Meadowcreek Parkway debate has?

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something graphic - part 10,987

 

Whenever there doesn't seem to be much else at hand, there is always the commonplace. It being one of those days when I feel like going nowhere, but there is a powerful need to capture some images, I've got to walk 'round the yard and find what there is that presents itself. But the documentarian is not very strong. What then becomes obvious is some simple arrangement of objects of modern life. It's an exercise in looking.