Ed Burtynsky's "Water"

There are two things that I surprisingly completed before the end of school year and leaving for the Northwest. One of them was read Ed Burtynsky's Water (reviewed here by Blake Andrews). Most of his artwork is political and it was unexpected that many of the photographs focused on formal qualities. I have a connection to all of the images below, whether it is an action (Xialangdi Dam...), a location (Texas), an area I long to visit (Georgian Bay), or return (Spain and Mexico). Making a subject entrenched in political and environmental discourse into an abstraction is currently of great interest.

Ed Burtynsky, Xialangdi Dam #1, Yellow River, Henan Province, China, 2011

Ed Burtynsky, Pivot Irrigation #25, High Plains, Texas Panhandle, 2011

Ed Burtynsky, Pivot Irrigation, High Plains #8, High Plains, Texas Panhandle, 2011

Ed Burtynsky, Georgian Bay #1, Four Winds, Pointe-Au-Baril, Ontario, Canada, 2009

Ed Burtynsky, Cerro Prieto Geothermal Power Station, Baja Mexico, 2012

Ed Burtynsky, Artemia Salterns, Gulf of California, Sonora, Mexico, 2012

Ed Burtynsky, Colorado River Delta #2 (near San Felipe, Baja, Mexico), 2012

Ed Burtynsky, Benidorm #1, Spain, 2010