Scorched earth and soured tires, Edward Burtynsky's OIL series is an exquisitely excruciating glimpse of oil production and the spectacles that flank it. Oil riggers, oil extractors, oil fields, oil spills, the systems we've built to move it, the cars we've built to consume it. We're a society with oil in it's veins.
An exhibit currently at the Photographer's Gallery showcases three sections from the Canadian photographer's series: Extraction and Refinement, Transportation and Motor Culture, and The End of Oil. Burtynsky gave this statement regarding the work on display:
"In 1997 I had what I refer to as my oil epiphany. It occurred to me that the vast, human-altered landscapes that I pursued and photographed for over twenty years were only made possible by the discovery of oil…”
Oh so eerie, and oh so engaging. Runs till 1st July.
Burtynsky's website here.
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