Edward Burtynsky's monumental chronicle of the human impact on the planet
(newyorker.com)106 points by pseudolus 21 hours ago
106 points by pseudolus 21 hours ago
It's actually the first in what became a series!
Watermark [0] and The Anthropocene[1] are both phenomenal. In fact, in terms of cinematography, I think Watermark is the best. Manufactured Landscapes was absolutely earth-shattering in my own consideration of humans and our ecologies though.
If you find yourself liking Burtynsky may I also suggest checking out Richard Misrach and the classic book of Manfred Hamm photography, Dead Tech [2].
(We'd be remiss to leave out the contributions of Jennifer Baichwal to all three films and Nicholas de Pencier on The Anthropocene.)
[0] https://www.edwardburtynsky.com/projects/films/watermark
[1] https://www.edwardburtynsky.com/projects/films/anthropocene-...
[2] https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Tech-Guide-Archaeology-Tomorrow/... (Only linked to Amazon because people have posted images)
Burtynsky's environmental trilogy is worth exploring in full: Manufactured Landscapes (2006), Watermark (2013), and Anthropocene: The Human Epoch (2018).
The whole movie is available on Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/ManufacturedLandscapes_201902
Link to the show at the International Center of Photography (NYC): https://www.icp.org/exhibitions/edward-burtynsky-great-accel...
Petapixel article with more photos and commentary: https://petapixel.com/2025/06/24/photographer-edward-burtyns...
That book put me in a really bad place for more than a year. It was so depressing, i just couldnt shake the inevitablity of it all.
The fascist take over of the US has been a quaint distraction, but in the end it also means nothing compared to the collapse of the food chain. You cant eat dollars.
Any good suggestions so far? The best I read was Not The End of The World by Hannah Ritchie from Our World in Data.
Scarcely different than the world shown in WALL-E or idiocracy
There's a fantastic documentary about Burtynsky's work, Manufactured Landscapes. I highly recommend it, even if you just watch the opening. https://www.edwardburtynsky.com/projects/films/manufactured-...