Manufactured Landscapes

Manufactured Landscapes is a beautiful film of Edward Burtynsky’s photography. Most of the film takes place in China. My favorite part of the movie was the beginning. It starts off with a rolling view across a Chinese factory. The whole time I was wondering (hoping) the factory view would end. (The shot went on for about 5 minutes). After a while a bell rings and the workers go outside to a road where there are several other factories and workers, mostly dressed in yellow.

The film shows much more than factories. It has amazing photos of the enormous the Three Gorge Dam in China. That dam is taking almost 20 years to build!

Burtynsky's artist statement is to document the changes humans are making to the landscapes. He saids in the film he does not want his art to have a negative attitudes. Rather his art is to confront the viewers with the changes.

I‘ve read a little about where and how stuff is made. I imagined the processes in my head. I watched How It’s Made. But this movie shown me landscapes I could never imagine or believe until now.