A many miles long tunnel through once impenetrable mountains, tanks filled with neon-colored liquid for use in batteries, and the last male white rhino. Canadian artists Edward Burtynsky, Jennifer Baichwal and Nicolas de Pencier have documented the irreversible marks of human activity on earth, in more than twenty countries. The compelling large-format photographs, fascinating videos and impressive augmented reality installations have a twofold impact. Simultaneously beautiful and terrifying, they make us aware of our impact on the Earth’s ecosystem and atmosphere.

Edward Burtynsky, Lithium Mines #1, Salt Flats, Atacama Desert, Chile, 2017, pigment inkjet print. Courtesy of the artist and Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto

For world-renowned photographer Edward Burtynsky (b. 1955, St. Catherines, Ontario), this exhibition is the culmination of an already impressive career. Since the 1980s, he has been showing how human beings have permanently changed the landscape. For the first time, he does this from a very high altitude, using drones, cranes and satellites. The result is an almost abstract representation of a shocking reality. Previously, Burtynsky collaborated with filmmakers Jennifer Baichwal (1965, Montreal) and Nicolas de Pencier (1966, Toronto). Now, for the first time, photography and film have been brought together in one exhibition. They enhance each other with breathtaking effect.

Organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario and National Gallery of Canada, in partnership with Fondazione MAST. The exhibition is made possible by Mondriaanfonds, Turing Foundation, Prins Bernard Cultuurfonds, Fonds 21, Zabawas, Gemeente Helmond, Ambassade van Canada, Driessen Groep, Kuijpers