Signifiers and Signified:

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Burtynsky’s image No, 34 in his Nicket Tailings project can be seen as a river of lava that flows from an erupting volcano, which is perhaps why we immediately associate this image with natural disaster. The juxtaposing pulsating orange against a glossy black background, he extracts spectacular images from a landscape that many might consider un-photogenic; because of this use of startling colours and the contrast between the people may see the image just as a natural disaster. However, the intense reds and oranges are caused by the oxidation of the iron that is left behind in the process of separating nickel and other metals from the ore.

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Burtynsky was a big photographer of ‘man made’ landscapes and is known for his documentary ‘Manufactured Landscapes’ and this idea is shown well in this collection.

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“And through my photographs, I'm hoping to be able to engage the audiences of my work, and to come up to it and not immediately be rejected by the image. Not to say, "Oh my God, what is it?" but to be challenged by it — to say, "Wow, this is beautiful," on one level, but on the other level, "This is scary. I shouldn't be enjoying it." Like a forbidden pleasure.” (Edward Burtynsky, TED, 2006)

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How a viewers reading changes meaning:

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From this we see that Burtynsky wanted us to question the image we were looking at and make us feel conflicted about what we think, some viewers of No.34 would think the image is beautiful and almost calming until they find out about what the image is really showing, by doing this he has made his images something tot question and though they still have beautiful colours and compositions we still know that the image we are looking at is the destruction mankind creates.

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How does the photographer challenge meaning?

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Man, controlling the landscape. In each image, there is always some evidence of the hand of man. Man, leaving their mark, a polluted river, a ship breaking, a quarry. He looks at the consequences of man’s actions and the drastic consequences of industry became real to Burtynsky after his father died of cancers which developed after his long time working in a general motors plant. Burtynsky doesn’t want his work to be just pushing environmentalism in your face or a lecture on consumerism, he wants to show an aesthetically pleasing side to something that is ugly in context and in view. In some ways, it creates dialogue that brings about change, this is what he hopes for.

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What are the core themes of the image?

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The main theme in the tailings series is the oxidisation of the iron that is left behind in the process of separating nickel and other metals from the ore. The main themes in many of Burtynsky’s projects tend to be man-made disasters to the landscapes, such as quarries. He looks for evidence of the hand of man. The colours in the Tailings project tend to be a vibrant orange against a dark brown/black. He uses a large format camera & focuses on detail. No obscure angles used as to not take away anything from the landscape, sometimes looking down on the landscape from above and what is going on behind the image can sometimes be more important than what is in it. Early on in his career the image Quartz Quarry 1932 by August Sanders suggested to him how his own work could be structured.