ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Edward Burtynsky - Photographer
2005 TED Prize winner Edward Burtynsky has made it his life's work to document humanity's impact on the planet. His riveting photographs, as beautiful as they are horrifying, capture views of the Earth altered by mankind.

Why you should listen

To describe Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky's work in a single adjective, you have to speak French: jolie-laide. His images of scarred landscapes -- from mountains of tires to rivers of bright orange waste from a nickel mine -- are eerily pretty yet ugly at the same time. Burtynsky's large-format color photographs explore the impact of humanity's expanding footprint and the substantial ways in which we're reshaping the surface of the planet. His images powerfully alter the way we think about the world and our place in it.

With his blessing and encouragement, WorldChanging.com and others use his work to inspire ongoing global conversations about sustainable living. Burtynsky's photographs are included in the collections of over 50 museums around the world, including the Tate, London and the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim in New York City. A large-format book, 2003's Manufactured Landscapes, collected his work, and in 2007, a documentary based on his photography, also called Manufactured Landscapes, debuted at the Toronto Film Festival before going on to screen at Sundance and elsewhere. It was released on DVD in March 2007. In 2008, after giving a talk at the Long Now Foundation, Burtynsky proposed "The 10,000 Year Gallery," which could house art to be curated over thousands of years preserved through carbon transfers in an effort to reflect the attitudes and changes of the world over time. 

When Burtynsky accepted his 2005 TED Prize, he made three wishes. One of his wishes: to build a website that will help kids think about going green. Thanks to WGBH and the TED community, the show and site Meet the Greens debuted at TED2007. His second wish: to begin work on an Imax film, which morphed into the jaw-dropping film Manufactured Landscapes with Jennifer Baichwal. And his third wish, wider in scope, was simply to encourage "a massive and productive worldwide conversation about sustainable living." Thanks to his help and the input of the TED community, the site WorldChanging.com got an infusion of energy that has helped it to grow into a leading voice in the sustainability community.

In 2016, he won a Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts for his work.

More profile about the speaker
Edward Burtynsky | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2009

Edward Burtynsky: Photographing the landscape of oil

Edvards Burtinskis: Naftas rūpniecisko ainavu fotografēšana

Filmed:
550,970 views

Satriecošās lielformāta fotogrāfijās Edvards Burtinskis seko naftas ceļam mūsdienu, sabiedrībā sākot no urbuma, naftas vada līdz automašīnas dzinējam un tālāk līdz sagaidāmajām naftas maksimuma beigām
- Photographer
2005 TED Prize winner Edward Burtynsky has made it his life's work to document humanity's impact on the planet. His riveting photographs, as beautiful as they are horrifying, capture views of the Earth altered by mankind. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
I startedsāka my journeyceļojums 30 yearsgadiem agopirms.
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Es uzsāku savu ceļojumu pirms 30 gadiem,
00:18
And I workedstrādāja in minesmīnas. And I realizedsapratu that
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kad strādāju raktuvēs. Tad es aptvēru, ka
00:20
this was a worldpasaule unseenneredzēts.
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citiem tā ir nezināma pasaule.
00:22
And I wanted, throughcauri colorkrāsa and largeliels formatformātā cameraskameras
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Es vēlējos ar krāsām, platleņķa fotoaparātiem,
00:24
and very largeliels printsizdrukas,
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un lielformāta fotogrāfijām
00:26
to make a bodyķermenis of work that somehowkaut kā
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radīt darbus, kas kaut kādā veidā
00:28
becamekļuva symbolssimboli of our
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kļūtu par mūsu dabas ainavu
00:31
use of the landscapeainava,
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izmantojuma simboliem,
00:33
how we use the landzeme.
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to, kā mēs izmantojam zemi.
00:35
And to me this was
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Man tā bija kā
00:37
a keyatslēga componentkomponents that somehowkaut kā, throughcauri this mediumvidēja of photographyfotogrāfija,
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„atslēga”, kas kaut kā caur šīm fotogrāfijām
00:40
whichkas allowsatļauj us to contemplateapsvērt these landscapesainavas,
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ļauj mums apcerēt šīs ainavas,
00:43
that I thought photographyfotogrāfija was perfectlyperfekti suitedpiemērots
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kas man šķita ir ideāli piemērota
00:46
to doing this typetips of work.
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šāda veida darbam.
00:48
And after 17 yearsgadiem of photographingfotografēšana largeliels industrialrūpnieciska landscapesainavas,
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Pēc 17 gadu lielu rūpniecisko ainavu fotografēšanas
00:52
it occurrednotika to me that
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man ienāca prātā, ka
00:54
oileļļa is underpinningpamatā the scalemērogs and speedātrums.
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nafta ir pamatā mērogam un ātrumam,
00:56
Because that is what has changedmainījies,
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jo ir mainījies ātrums,
00:58
is the speedātrums at whichkas we're takingņemot all our resourcesresursi.
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ar kuru izlietojam resursus.
01:01
And so then I wentdevās out to developattīstīties a wholeveselu seriessērija
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Tad es sāku strādāt pie veselas sērijas, kas
01:03
on the landscapeainava of oileļļa.
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veltīta naftas ainavām.
01:05
And what I want to do is to kindlaipns of mapkarte an arcloka
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Es vēlējos attēlot tādu kā loku,
01:10
that there is extractionekstrakcijas, where we're takingņemot it from the groundzeme,
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sākot no naftas ieguves, kur to iegūst no zemes un
01:13
refinementizsmalcinātību. And that's one chapternodaļa.
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pārstrādā. Tā būtu viena nodaļa.
01:15
The other chapternodaļa that I wanted to look at was
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Citā nodaļā es vēlējos apskatīt to,
01:17
how we use it -- our citiespilsētās,
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kā mēs naftu izmantojam – parādot mūsu pilsētas,
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our carsautomašīnas, our motorculturesmotorcultures,
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automašīnas, motokultūru,
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where people gathersapulcēties around the vehicletransportlīdzeklis
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kur cilvēki pulcējas ap transportlīdzekli,
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as a celebrationsvinības.
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to cildinot.
01:27
And then the thirdtrešais one is this ideaideja of the endbeigas of oileļļa,
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Trešajā nodaļā attēlota doma par naftas beigām,
01:29
this entropicentropic endbeigas,
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šo entropisku galu,
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where all of our partsdaļas of carsautomašīnas, our tiresriepas,
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kur redzamas visas automašīnu daļas, riepas,
01:34
oileļļa filtersfiltri,
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eļļas filtri,
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helicoptershelikopteri, planeslidmašīnas --
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helikopteri, lidmašīnas –
01:38
where are the landscapesainavas where all of that stuffstuff endsbeidzas up?
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vietas, kur tas viss galu galā nonāk.
01:41
And to me, again, photographyfotogrāfija was
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Kā jau teicu, fotogrāfija man bija
01:43
a way in whichkas I could exploreizpētīt and researchpētniecība the worldpasaule,
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veids, kādā varēju izpētīt šo pasauli
01:46
and find those placesvietas.
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un atrast šīs vietas.
01:48
And anothercits ideaideja that I had as well,
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Vēl viena doma, kas man bija prātā,
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that was broughtcelta forwarduz priekšu by an ecologistecologist --
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uz kuru uzvedināja ekologs –
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he basicallybūtībā did a calculationaprēķins where
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viņš būtībā veica aprēķinu, atbildot uz jautājumu,
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he tookpaņēma one literlitrs of gasgāze and said,
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cik daudz oglekļa un cik organiskā materiāla
01:59
well, how much carbonogleklis it would take, and how much organicorganisks materialmateriāls?
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vajadzētu vienam benzīna litram.
02:03
It was 23 metricmetrikas tonstonnas for one literlitrs.
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Būtu vajadzīgas 23 metriskās tonnas vienam litram degvielas.
02:06
So wheneverkad vien I fillaizpildīt up my gasgāze,
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Tādēļ vienmēr, kad uzpildu degvielu automašīnā,
02:08
I think of that literlitrs, and how much carbonogleklis.
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domāju par šo litru un cik daudz oglekļa tam būtu vajadzīgs.
02:10
And I know that oileļļa comesnāk from the oceanokeāns and phytoplanktonfitoplanktons,
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Zinu, ka nafta nāk no okeāna un fitoplanktona.
02:13
but he did the calculationsaprēķini for our EarthZemes
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Tādēļ viņš veica arī aprēķinus, cik ilgu
02:16
and what it had to do to produceražot that amountsumma of energyenerģija.
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laiku Zemei vajadzētu, lai radītu šādu enerģijas daudzumu.
02:18
From the photosyntheticar fotosintēzi saistītie growthizaugsme,
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Izmantojot augu fotosintēzi,
02:20
it would take 500 yearsgadiem of that growthizaugsme
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vajadzētu 500 gadus,
02:23
to produceražot what we use, the 30 billionmiljardi barrelsmucas we use perpar yeargads.
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lai radītu to, ko mēs izmantojam
– 30 miljardus barelu gadā.
02:28
And that alsoarī broughtcelta me to the factfakts that
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Tas man arī lika saprast, ka
02:30
this posesrada suchtāds a riskrisks to our societysabiedrība.
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tas ir milzīgs drauds mūsu sabiedrībai.
02:33
Looking at 30 billionmiljardi perpar yeargads,
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30 miljardu patēriņš gadā un
02:38
we look at our two largestlielākais suppliersPiegādātāji,
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divas lielākās naftas piegādātājas ir
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SaudiSaūda Arābijas ArabiaArabia and now CanadaKanāda, with its dirtynetīrs oileļļa.
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Saūda Arābija un Kanāda ar tās netīro naftu.
02:42
And togetherkopā they only formforma about 15 yearsgadiem of supplypiegāde.
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To kopējo resursi pietiks vien 15 piegādes gadiem.
02:46
The wholeveselu worldpasaule, at 1.2 trilliontriljons estimatedaprēķināts reservesrezerves,
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Visas pasaules aptuveni 1,2 triljoni rezervju
02:49
only givesdod us about 45 yearsgadiem.
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pietiks vien aptuveni 45 gadiem.
02:51
So, it's not a questionjautājums of if, but a questionjautājums of when
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Tādēļ runa nav par „vai”, bet gan „kad”
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peakvirsotne oileļļa will come uponpēc us.
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iestāsies naftas ieguves maksimums.
02:56
So, to me, usingizmantojot photographyfotogrāfija --
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Es izmantoju fotogrāfiju un
02:58
and I feel that all of us need to now beginsāciet to really
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uzskatu, ka mums visiem tagad jāsāk rīkoties,
03:01
take the taskuzdevums of usingizmantojot our talentstalanti,
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jāizmanto mūsu talanti,
03:03
our waysceļi of thinkingdomāšana,
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domāšanas veids,
03:06
to beginsāciet to dealdarījumu with what I think is probablydroši vien
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lai risinātu vienu no,
03:08
one of the mostlielākā daļa challengingizaicinošs issuesjautājumus of our time,
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manuprāt, vissarežģītākām tagadnes problēmām –
03:11
how to dealdarījumu with our energyenerģija crisiskrīze.
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enerģijas krīzes jautājumu.
03:13
And I would like to say that, on the other sidepusē of it,
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No otras puses es vēlētos pēc
03:15
30, 40 yearsgadiem from now, the childrenbērni that I have,
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trīsdesmit, četrdesmit gadiem saviem bērniem
03:17
I can look at them and say, "We did everything
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skatīties acīs un teikt: „Mēs darījām
03:19
we possiblyiespējams, humanlycilvēciski could do,
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visu cilvēku spēkos iespējamo,
03:22
to beginsāciet to mitigatemazināt this,
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lai mazinātu šo krīzi,
03:25
what I feel is one of the mostlielākā daļa importantsvarīgs and criticalkritisks
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kas, manuprāt, ir viens no būtiskākajiem un nozīmīgākajiem
03:27
momentsbrīži in our time. Thank you.
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mūsu laika mirkļiem.” Paldies.
03:30
(ApplauseAplausi)
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(Aplausi)
Translated by Aija Dimanta
Reviewed by Kristaps Kadiķis

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Edward Burtynsky - Photographer
2005 TED Prize winner Edward Burtynsky has made it his life's work to document humanity's impact on the planet. His riveting photographs, as beautiful as they are horrifying, capture views of the Earth altered by mankind.

Why you should listen

To describe Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky's work in a single adjective, you have to speak French: jolie-laide. His images of scarred landscapes -- from mountains of tires to rivers of bright orange waste from a nickel mine -- are eerily pretty yet ugly at the same time. Burtynsky's large-format color photographs explore the impact of humanity's expanding footprint and the substantial ways in which we're reshaping the surface of the planet. His images powerfully alter the way we think about the world and our place in it.

With his blessing and encouragement, WorldChanging.com and others use his work to inspire ongoing global conversations about sustainable living. Burtynsky's photographs are included in the collections of over 50 museums around the world, including the Tate, London and the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim in New York City. A large-format book, 2003's Manufactured Landscapes, collected his work, and in 2007, a documentary based on his photography, also called Manufactured Landscapes, debuted at the Toronto Film Festival before going on to screen at Sundance and elsewhere. It was released on DVD in March 2007. In 2008, after giving a talk at the Long Now Foundation, Burtynsky proposed "The 10,000 Year Gallery," which could house art to be curated over thousands of years preserved through carbon transfers in an effort to reflect the attitudes and changes of the world over time. 

When Burtynsky accepted his 2005 TED Prize, he made three wishes. One of his wishes: to build a website that will help kids think about going green. Thanks to WGBH and the TED community, the show and site Meet the Greens debuted at TED2007. His second wish: to begin work on an Imax film, which morphed into the jaw-dropping film Manufactured Landscapes with Jennifer Baichwal. And his third wish, wider in scope, was simply to encourage "a massive and productive worldwide conversation about sustainable living." Thanks to his help and the input of the TED community, the site WorldChanging.com got an infusion of energy that has helped it to grow into a leading voice in the sustainability community.

In 2016, he won a Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts for his work.

More profile about the speaker
Edward Burtynsky | Speaker | TED.com
THE ORIGINAL VIDEO ON TED.COM