When Edward Burtynsky was a child, he grew up to the soundtrack of the General Motors plant in St Catharines, Ontario. 'We would drive past and all you could hear was ba-boom, ba-boom,' he recalls as we settle down for a chat. St Catharines was a blue-collar city and his father, Peter, had secured work on the production line at the factory.
'There was a red brick wall that ran for about half a kilometre and from behind it there came a noise so loud that you could feel the earth shake,' he explains. When Edward was seven, he attended an open day at the plant and was amazed by what he found there. 'I saw molten metal going down chutes, big presses in action and people wearing aluminium suits that made them look like Martians,' he laughs.
All the while, ba-boom, ba-boom rang out like a heartbeat. To a child born at the beginning of the Space Race, this odd environment where humans and technology worked side by side must have seemed intoxicating. 'I realised that there was this whole other world,' he says. 'It was like going into the bowels of the machine while knowing that every time we drove past, we were riding in the thing the plant was making!'
This story is from the February 20, 2024 edition of Amateur Photographer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the February 20, 2024 edition of Amateur Photographer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
APOY Inspiration
If youre planning to enter our Urban Life round, take note of these tips from three of last year’s top ten photographers
Specs versus design
It’s a common ailment for a particular type of photographer to be obsessed by specifications.
Urban light
Rod Lawton demonstrates two editing techniques to intensify and dramatise the light in your urban life photography for striking scenes
New Fujifilm GFX100S II - affordable medium format
Fujifilm has unveiled a new, relatively affordable medium-format camera, the Fujifilm GFX100S II.
Northern souls
Two years after a major retrospective that was intended to be his swansong, Ian Beesley is back with a new exhibition for the fans who still want more.
Xiaomi 14 Ultra
With a large sensor, four lenses and Leica backing, is this the best smartphone for photographers?
Fight club
How to capture the key moments when garden birds take to the air and go to war. Andrew Fusek Peters shares his set-up and techniques which are crucial to capture both flight and fight action
Canon finally opens up RF mount
SIGMA is releasing six APS-C lenses for Canon EOS RF mount, thus widening the choice of glass for Canon’s previously ‘closed’ RF system.
Tony Kemplen on the.Leidolf Lordomat
A camera made in Germany in the early 1950s and discovered at a charity shop
Stories from the heart
Kenyan fine art photographer Thandiwe Muriu has a gift that she was encouraged by her parents to explore from a young age.