Water Exhibit
Edward Burtynsky addresses, in a few photographs, the oil spill of 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. Throughout his Water exhibit, we as viewers learn of his many concerns regarding things such as human control over water, the desire of waterfront coasts, aquaculture, and the source of water. While all of his concerns for the most part regard water, I think that he is mainly addressing humans' many interactions with water. As I walked around the exhibit, I read each statement before I looked at the next section of work. Each one had to deal with our impact as humans on earth. By Edward showing us a view from a perspective that not many of us get the privilege to see, I think it addresses his concern of human impact much better than if he were to simply photograph a portrait of someone in front of a dam that they had worked on. This birds-eye perspective obviously isn't new in the world of photography, but the strength of Edward's Water seems to stand out from the rest in my opinion.
By Burtynsky taking the photos of the oil spill from the perspective and distance that he did, I think it did a better job of showing just how severe the oil spill really was. Being able to see what exactly it did and how largely it impacted the Gulf of Mexico is often not as easily perceived through a news article regarding the oil spill. In regards to his other concerns with water, (these being control of water, aquaculture, waterfront desire, and source of water), I feel that he did an excellent job portraying each subject matter. For one, the colors in each photograph are so vivid and beautiful. I was honestly blown away by each photograph. Literally each and every photo has such a strong composition.
This will probably come as no surprise to some people, but I would love to relate my personal concerns regarding mental health to my photography. I've addressed mental health a few times in my work but not as in depth as I've wanted to go. I would love to do more work relating to it. As for similar concerns to Burtynsky's Water, I would try more up close shots, whether they're portraits of people or just landscape shots. I'm unsure of how powerful my shots would be compared to Burtynsky's though. I feel that his work could be understood without reading an artist's statement, which makes his work powerful in my opinion. Now, I would love to be able to shoot photos from a helicopter, but obviously money is an issue with that scenario.
His perspective in his photographs is so strong and unique. I believe that is what captivates me the most. We see the whole picture and not just a segment. In his images we see the whole problem not just a portions. Not scratching the surface. Having these large prints as well just draws the viewer in. I mean how could you walk by these images and not be touched at least in the smallest way possible. I wanted to clean up all of the litter I found outside my home as soon as I left.. So much more we could be doing and arent.
ReplyDelete