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!'
Denne historien er fra February 20, 2024-utgaven av Amateur Photographer.
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Denne historien er fra February 20, 2024-utgaven av Amateur Photographer.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
140 years of change
AP has become the world’s oldest surviving consumer photo magazine because we have moved with the times, says Nigel Atherton
Preserving history in platinum
A deep dive into the meticulous art of platinum printing, and the collaboration between the Royal Geographical Society and Salto Ulbeek. Mike Crawford explores how they brought historical photographs to life with enduring beauty and precision
Life in the past lane
What was life like for an amateur photographer in 1884? John Wade takes a trip back in time
Choice cuts
How many trillions of photographs must have been taken in the past 140 years? Amy Davies asked some of our regular contributors for their favourites....a difficult task, to say the least
How good a camera can you buy for just £140?
Three members of the AP team see what they can find for the money
Round Five: The Best of the Rest
The APOY judges choose their favourite images that didn’t make the top ten of our Landscapes category
Amateur Photographer of the Year
Here are the top ten images uploaded to Photocrowd from Round Five, Landscapes, with comments by the AP team and our guest judge
FILM STARS A lifetime of landmarks
Cameras that hit the headlines between then and now. John Wade is your guide
140 years of Amateur Photographer
As AP celebrates its 140th birthday next month, Nigel Atherton looks back at its glorious past
John Wade considers...World War II: Home Front 1940, by A.J O'Brien
Say the word 'Wall's' to those of a certain age and two things spring to mind: sausages and ice cream.