Manufactured Landscapes

Acclaimed photographer Edward Burtynsky captures the otherworldly evidence and effects of China's massive, modern industrial revolution.

Renowned for his photographs of human-affected landscapes – quarries, factories, mines and dams – Edward Burtynsky creates stunningly beautiful art from civilisation's waste and debris. Director Jennifer Baichwal extends the narratives of Burtynsky's photographs, allowing us to witness the massive scale of human industrial endeavour and consider our impact on the planet.

Curator's Note

An eye-opening, eight-minute tracking shot across a 480-metre-long factory floor sets the scene for a journey through industry in a rapidly urbanised China, and beyond.

Cinematographer Peter Mettler's lens is in lockstep with Burtynsky's photographic journey, and together they capture the enormity of industrial and infrastructure projects and their mindblowing impact in redrawing the landscape.

Manufactured Landscapes premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Following the film, director and subject embarked on two other films as co-directors, expanding further on man-made interventions on the natural world. Watermark (2013) and Anthropocene: The Human Epoch (2018) complete the trilogy.