Edward Burtynsky Exhibition Reveals the Artistry of Canadian Landscapes

Writer Ayesha Habib

Famed for his sweeping, visually-striking images of industrial landscapes–including award winning climate documentary Anthropocene: The Human Epoch—Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky’s latest body of work is a study of his own backyard. Natural Order, exhibited by the Nicholas Metivier Gallery in Toronto, will be on view in the gallery and online from September 3 until September 26.

Featuring photographs taken while in isolation during the early days of the pandemic in Grey County, Ontario, Natural Order presents immensely detailed scenes of a thawing Canadian forest. The sharp contrasts of colour and texture lend the photographs an abstract painterly quality, tricking the eye and inviting the viewer to gaze deeper into their rich depths. “I find myself gazing into an infinity of apparent chaos, but through that selective contemplation, an order emerges—an enduring order that remains intact regardless of our own human fate,” says the photographer in a statement. Burtynsky first photographed the same area 40 years ago, and his return during the pandemic marks a full circle of the photographer’s career.

A limited edition publication of the same name will also be released alongside the exhibition, comprising of ten 20 x 24 inch photographs.