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Ottawa photography exhibit explores environmental disasters

01.07.2008 06:02 Arts - Source: cbc.ca

Curator Claude Baillargeon said the exhibit is intended to make people realize they must do something about environmental destruction.(CBC)

A dark and dire new photo exhibit chronicling humanity's terrible toll on the planet is on display at the National Gallery in Ottawa.

Imaging a Shattering Earth showcases provocative images captured by Edward Burtynsky, Peter Goin and other leading Canadian and U.S. photographers.

The 56 images in the exhibit shine a light on environmental problems, disasters and devastation around the globe, from Burtynsky's famed images of industrial China to clear-cut forests in Washington to radioactive regions around Chernobyl.

"It's very hard to find paintings that deal with the environment in this way, or other kinds of graphic art [that does]," the exhibit's curator Claude Baillargeon told CBC News.

"People don't make sculptures about the environment this way. So photography and the environmental debate are a perfect match."

While the images can be considered beautiful in a way, Baillargeon acknowledges the exhibit's dark mood.

"What I'm trying to do is make us realize we must do something … it's important to actually confront the reality of it," he said.

"All we can do here is participate in this debate and really try to do something together, because unless we are all in, there is no solution."

Imaging a Shattering Earth, presented by the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, remains on display at the National Gallery until Oct. 13.

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Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography: Imaging a Shattering Earth

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