While watching Manufactured Landscapes, I couldn’t help but feel an incredible sadness creep over me, sort of like the transition from dusk to night. There is a staggering sensation of beauty and stillness, but also of loss and a realization that you cannot go back. When confronted by the work of Burtynsky, you see astonishingly vast landscapes and for a moment revel in their magnitude and orchestration of elements and color, only to then recognize them as products of human alteration and waste, plummeting you down into its grim reality.
I think Baichwall was able to well convey the massiveness and beauty of Burtynsky’s work while placing it in a context and dialogue; yet she did not thrust a certain evaluation upon viewers, allowing them to formulate their own opinions. Baichwall adds to the discussion of Burtynsky’s work by allowing the viewer to know more about the background of the photographs: how they were made, what Burtynsky’s was thinking while shooting, and presentation of actual interaction with the people who where photographed as part of the landscapes. She adds a human element to Burtynsky’s work where he eliminates it, only referring to the human involvement. This leads me to see how Burtynsky, while at one time claiming no political viewpoint over the landscapes he was photographing, could not help but to eventually advocate environmental causes. These landscapes no matter how beautiful, eerie and strange they may seem, are real places. Humans are impacting the planet and in turn hurting themselves and not matter how much it seems like we cannot go back, we still cannot let the world turn into a wasteland.
The film also put into contrast Chinese versus American lifestyle. I think that when looking at the pictures of masses of people in China, we are astounded by their similarity, which contrasts with the American championing of individuality. Certainly no one desires to live a life of drudgery and in low living conditions, but the mentality of being part of a group effort and not standing out as an individual is promoted by many Chinese. In the film, workers on big projects were asked if they were proud to be part of something for their country. They often responded, “its just work,” but still this is not viewed as a strange question. Consider the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Olympics. China was trying to put forth an image of common pride and happiness, harmoniously working together for the greater good. The choreography of thousands of perfectly timed performers certainly displayed this. This ideal of cooperating for the bigger organism differs from that in America; we believe that we have the right to be noticed. Along with the realization that we are part of the influence on Burtynsky’s landscapes, this concept is part of why these images are so striking for us. I think because of this, I can interpret these landscapes as a way to visualize and disclose the notion that we are part of a global environment and it is really only together that we will actually be able to reverse the mess we have wandered so deep into.
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