For over 10 years photographer Edward Burtynsky has been making images of all aspects of the oil industry: extraction and refining, the city of Detroit, transport and motor culture, and what happens when oil’s associated artefacts – large and small – reach the end of their useful life. The resulting collection of large-format photographs reveals how much we rely on this finite resource to fuel our modern lives. Currently on show at the newly redeveloped Photographers’ Gallery in London, Burtynsky’s Oil exhibition will tour other venues into 2013. Caroline Morley
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SOCAR Oil Fields #6, Baku, Azerbaijan
2006
The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) reports that it produced 8.4 million tonnes of oil in 2011.
(Image: Edward Burtynsky. Courtesy Nicholas Metivier, Toronto/Flowers, London)
Alberta Oil Sands #2, Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada
2007
Canada’s tar sands are at the centre of controversy over the environmental damage caused by extracting oil from them.
(Image: Edward Burtynsky. Courtesy Nicholas Metivier, Toronto/Flowers, London)
Oil Fields #22, Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada
2001
Transporting oil from its usually remote sources to the population centres where it is needed presents further problems. To transport the oil from Alberta, long pipelines have been laid, and are set to be extended into the US – if the government approves.
(Image: Edward Burtynsky. Courtesy Nicholas Metivier, Toronto/Flowers, London)
Oil Refineries #22, St. John, New Brunswick, Canada
1999
Crude oil is of little use to anyone. It is in oil refineries like this that the crude is split into its more useful constituents, which can then be processed further for use in different industries and transport.
(Image: Edward Burtynsky. Courtesy Nicholas Metivier, Toronto/Flowers, London)
Highway #1, Intersection 105 & 110, Los Angeles, California, USA
2003
Few cities can claim a stronger association with cars than Los Angeles. According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, in 2007 there were 6.68 million registered vehicles in Los Angeles county, which had a population of 9.76 million people in the 2005 census.
(Image: Edward Burtynsky. Courtesy Nicholas Metivier, Toronto/Flowers, London)
Shipbreaking #13, Chittagong, Bangladesh
2000
Carbon dioxide is not the only waste product from our oil consumption. In addition to thousands of small items, like the tyres in this week’s Aperture Picture of the Day, the industrial machinery and transportation systems also reach the end of their useful lives and need to be disposed of – not always responsibly. This beach in India is the final destination for many oil tankers that once travelled the globe. Here, they are broken down for scrap.
(Image: Edward Burtynsky. Courtesy Nicholas Metivier, Toronto/Flowers, London)
