Up Close: Salt Pans #20

Edward Burtynsky’s shot captures the ancient method of providing one of the most basic elements of our diet, salt.

  • Words + Photography: Edward Burtynsky

Shot in Little Rann of Kutch, India, this image examines the ancient method of providing one of the most basic elements of our diet, both as primitive industry and as abstract two-dimensional human marks upon the landscape.

Image courtesy Flowers Gallery, London/Metivier Gallery, Toronto.

I have come to think of my preoccupation with the Anthropocene – the indelible marks left by humankind on the geological face of our planet – as a conceptual extension of my first and most fundamental interests as a photographer. My concern has always been to show the sheer magnitude of our impact on the Earth. To this end, I seek out and photograph large-scale industrial systems that leave lasting marks.

Edward Burtynsky is a Canadian photographer and artist known for his documentation of industrial landscapes. The book Anthropocene is published by Steidl.

Article taken from
Articles

Further Reading

Up Close: Street Boxing in Ghana

No glitz, no glamour; just pain and passion. Street fighting in Bukom, Ghana – a small, poor fishing village renowned for its remarkable ability to produce world champion boxers.

Ripped Genes

The ever-growing bank of genomic data we have is radically transforming our world, and as with all revolutions it will spark both positive and negative consequences.

Lady Adela

Once again the fate of the Kurds hangs in the balance after the crucial role they played in the US-backed onslaught against ISIS in Syria. This little-known story of a formidable Kurdish female tribal-leader from more than a century ago is a reminder of their long and fraught relationship with the West.

Swimming Upstream

This year's forest fires in the Amazon marked an environmental catastrophe, but a Rolex-award-winning scheme to save its largest fish spells hope for the future.

The Essentials: Benedict Allen

Explorer Benedict Allen explains why a pencil wrapped in gaffer tape, a postcard of the Queen, and condoms have all proved crucial for his jungle survival kit.

Reading List: Survival Literature

From the brutalities of life in the gulag to crossing the Pacific on a raft, Avaunt guides you through the precipitous terrain of survival literature’s great classics.
Browse by Category