Edward Burtynsky

The first thing I thought about when I saw Edward Burtynsky's photographs of the mines and the Three Gorges Dam in China was how those projects have affected my family. Both of my brothers work in construction, and the cost of steel and concrete in America rose dramatically because of the massive scale of the Dam in China; he talked about the footprint that China is leaving on the Earth, and this shows how widespread it can be in many areas. I really liked how the photos of the factories in China came across, the order with which they work and the conduct themselves was very apparent in the photographs. The factory where the cabs were being manufactured showed the massiveness with which they operate. My favorite photographs that he showed were of the tires. I'm not exactly sure why, but seeing this massive pile of tires and having it only be a fraction of what is actually there struck me as very interesting. I would have like to see a photograph from above showing the amount of space these tires took up, I believe he said there were 45 million of them; it's almost incomprehensible.

Links to Remember

Texture King - http://www.textureking.com/

James Nachtwey Response

Both the Speech and the images by Mr. Nachtwey were very powerful. While the content of many of his photos was very disturbing, I couldn't help but think at just how beautiful they still were. One of them that struck me the most was the one in which I believe was taken in Afghanistan, and was of several women in full covering black clothing; but what stuck out was a single bare hand visible amongst the black fabric, and the vivid blue sky. I was very drawn to the reality of his images, it is a reality that most would choose to ignore or to run from, but Mr. Nachtwey chooses to run towards this reality in order to bring it to those who would otherwise disregard it. His photographs had a way of communicating with the viewer; when I see these photos of people in pain or in extraordinary situations, I am forced to create a connection with the subject, they are no longer some person in a distant place, I can relate to them as a person. I can't even imagine what Mr. Nachtwey must have felt as he was viewing these events in person if I can have such a strong reaction to seeing the photographs. It seems to me that not many people would be able to see that kind of turmoil in person, and even fewer would choose to see it over and over again for their entire lives.