Edward Burtynsky was born in 1955 of Ukrainian heritage in St. Catharines, Ontario. He received his BAA in Photography/Media Studies from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) in 1982 and has since received both an Alumni Achievement Award (2004) and an Honorary Doctorate (2007) from his alma mater. He is still actively involved in the university community and sits on the board of directors for The Image Center (formerly Ryerson Image Centre).
In 1985, Burtynsky founded Toronto Image Works, a darkroom rental facility, custom photo laboratory, digital imaging, and new media computer-training center catering to all levels of Toronto's art community.
Early exposure to the General Motors plant and watching ships go by in the Welland Canal in Burtynsky's hometown helped capture his imagination for the scale of human creation, and to formulate the development of his photographic work. His imagery of him explores the collective impact we as a species are having on the surface of the planet — an inspection of the human systems we've imposed onto natural landscapes.
Edward Burtynsky is considered one of the world's foremost contemporary photographers. His extraordinary photographic representations of global industrial landscapes represent more than 40 years of his dedication to testifying to the impact of humans on the planet. Burtynsky's photographs are in the collections of more than 80 museums around the world, including the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa; Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Guggenheim Museum in New York; Tate Modern in London, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in California or the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.
Burtynsky's honors include the inaugural TED Prize in 2005, which he shared with Bono and Robert Fischell; the Governor General's Awards in Visual Arts and Media; 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 received 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 the Royal Photographic Society Honorary Scholarship and in 2022 he received the World Photography Organization's Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award. He has recently been inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame and in 2022 he has received the Pollution Probe Award.
Burtynsky was also a key figure in the production of the award-winning documentary trilogy Manufactured Landscapes (directed by Jennifer Baichwal, 2006), Watermark (directed by Baichwal and Burtynsky, 2013), and ANTHROPOCENE: The Human Epoch (directed by Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, and Burtynsky, 2018). All three films continue to screen at festivals around the world. Burtynsky is currently the holder of eight honorary doctorates.
In 1985, Burtynsky founded Toronto Image Works, a darkroom rental facility, custom photo laboratory, digital imaging, and new media computer-training center catering to all levels of Toronto's art community.
Early exposure to the General Motors plant and watching ships go by in the Welland Canal in Burtynsky's hometown helped capture his imagination for the scale of human creation, and to formulate the development of his photographic work. His imagery of him explores the collective impact we as a species are having on the surface of the planet — an inspection of the human systems we've imposed onto natural landscapes.
Edward Burtynsky is considered one of the world's foremost contemporary photographers. His extraordinary photographic representations of global industrial landscapes represent more than 40 years of his dedication to testifying to the impact of humans on the planet. Burtynsky's photographs are in the collections of more than 80 museums around the world, including the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa; Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Guggenheim Museum in New York; Tate Modern in London, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in California or the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.
Burtynsky's honors include the inaugural TED Prize in 2005, which he shared with Bono and Robert Fischell; the Governor General's Awards in Visual Arts and Media; 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 received 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 the Royal Photographic Society Honorary Scholarship and in 2022 he received the World Photography Organization's Outstanding Contribution to Photography Award. He has recently been inducted into the International Photography Hall of Fame and in 2022 he has received the Pollution Probe Award.
Burtynsky was also a key figure in the production of the award-winning documentary trilogy Manufactured Landscapes (directed by Jennifer Baichwal, 2006), Watermark (directed by Baichwal and Burtynsky, 2013), and ANTHROPOCENE: The Human Epoch (directed by Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, and Burtynsky, 2018). All three films continue to screen at festivals around the world. Burtynsky is currently the holder of eight honorary doctorates.
