For over 40 years, Edward Burtynsky's photographs have used the privileges granted by perspective and access to chronicle the relentless effects human industry has on global society and the environment. Burtynsky's visual syntax provides more clarity than ever, transcending the limits of a screen to deliver scenes and immersive murals that provoke urgency and inspire a meticulous gauge of reality.
Landslides are the most common geological event. That's a fact. They affect millions of people and cause many thousands of deaths. They often occur in countries with poor or inadequate infrastructure such as in Sudan's Marra Mountains region in late August 2025. Just the year before, in 2024, there were two major landslides in the same region. In Papua New Guinea, a reported 2,000 people were buried alive following a landslide in May 2024.
Rivers, on a long view, are alive. They are born; they change; they shift their channels; they forge new routes to the sea; they move both gradually and violently; they teem (usually) with life; they may die a quasi-natural death; they are frequently maimed and even murdered.
