Artist Spotlight: Edward Burtynsky

Edward Burtynsky

“Toronto Image Works is now approaching its 40th year and has strived from the very outset to work to the highest standards in photography. It has been the key provider of all my image processing and printing, mounting and, more recently, framing since it opened. Wherever these images show in the world, I’m always getting compliments on the quality and attention to detail that is a signature of TIW, a company that I started and hold near and dear to both my heart and career.”

BIO

Edward Burtynsky is regarded as one of the world’s most accomplished contemporary photographers. His remarkable photographic depictions of global industrial landscapes represent over 40 years of his dedication to bearing witness to the impact of humans on the planet.

Burtynsky’s photographs are included in the collections of over 80 major museums around the world. Major (touring) exhibitions include: Anthropocene (2018); Water (2013) organized by the New Orleans Museum of Art & Contemporary Art Center, Louisiana; Oil (2009) at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.; China (2005 five-year tour); Manufactured Landscapes (2003) at the National Gallery of Canada.

Burtynsky’s distinctions include the inaugural TED Prize in 2005, which he shared with Bono and Robert Fischell, the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts, the Outreach Award at the Rencontres d’Arles, the Roloff Beny Book award and the 2018 Photo London Master of Photography Award.

In 2019 he was the recipient of the Arts & Letters Award at the Canadian Association of New York’s annual Maple Leaf Ball and the 2019 Lucie Award for Achievement in Documentary Photography. In 2020 he was awarded a Royal Photographic Society Honorary Fellowship and in 2022 was honoured with the Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award by the World Photography Organization. In 2022 he was inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame and was named the 2022 recipient for the annual Pollution Probe Award. Most recently he received the 2023 PHotoESPAÑA Award for Professional Career and was awarded with the 25th edition of the Pino Pascali Prize.

Burtynsky was also a key production figure in the award-winning documentary trilogy Manufactured Landscapes (dir. Jennifer Baichwal, 2006), Watermark (dir. Baichwal and Burtynsky, 2013), and ANTHROPOCENE: The Human Epoch (dir. Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, and Burtynsky, 2018). All three films continue to play in festivals around the world.

Burtynsky currently holds eight honorary doctorate degrees.