Manufactured Landscapes

In the opening sequence of MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES, esteemed Canadian director Jennifer Baichwal occupies nearly ten minutes tracking the length-480 meters-of an industrial factory in China. The humming of machines, the buzzing of drills, the clinking of nuts and bolts echo throughout the immense building. Outside the factory walls, hundreds of workers, clothed in bumblebee-yellow uniforms, file into regimented lines to receive orders for the day. These are the subjects of photographer Edward Burtynsky. In a project that began with coal mines and quarries in Canada, Burtynsky has relocated in China to capture the ever-increasing industrialization, urbanization, and globalization of the country. In doing so, he aims to depict the human impact on nature, how we are physically transforming our landscape. From factories to “e-waste” recycling dumps to the Three Gorges Dam Project, his pictures encompass the awesome magnitude of these changes. While chronicling Burtynsky's art, Baichwal also focuses on the men and women oftentimes lost amongst the oppressive landscapes. This somewhat abstract commentary on our environment and the art that portrays it is both beautiful and affecting. – E.J.B.