THE STORY BEHIND THE PRINT

For the Salt Pans series Burtynsky traveled to Gujarat, India, to photograph the Little Rann of Kutch, a region that is home to more than 100,000 salt workers — known as the Agariyas — extracting around one million tons of salt from the floodwaters of the Arabian Sea each year. Salt has been their main industry for the last four hundred years. Receding groundwater levels and declining market values will, in time, make this way of life obsolete and will cause the salt pans to disappear. From an aerial vantage point, approximately 500-800 feet above the ground, Burtynsky photographed this unusual landscape of multi-coloured interlocking rectangles, spanning across the delta. In the early 2000s to mid-2010s, Burtynsky’s photographs became increasingly abstract as a result of his topographical perspective and fascination with finding similarities in the industrialized landscape to painting. Salt Pans continued in this direction with Burtynsky exploring the subtle modulations of tone and compositional balance of the pans, and the calligraphic tracks from vehicles referencing scale and human activity. Burtynsky’s images encapsulate the delicate balance between natural and human processes—the presence of salt in the earth’s composition and our need to harness it.

THE STEWARDSHIP EDITIONS RELEASE

For over four decades, Edward Burtynsky has documented the monumental scale of human industry and its impact on the planet. With this special new release, launching in Fall 2026, he introduces a format that extends this dialogue into a more personal space.

Conceived not as a departure from his traditional, large-scale works, but as a deliberate continuation, this release presents a defining image in an intimate 22.5" x 30" size, edition of 25.

This scale shifts the experience to quiet contemplation, and marks a direct-to-collector invitation for a new generation to live with these vital environmental narratives daily, passing the torch of awareness forward and actively participating in the stewardship of our changing earth.

As part of this release, Burtynsky will dedicate 10% of profits from the sale of each print to Instituto Terra — founded by the late Sebastião Salgado, and a dear friend to Burtynsky. 

ABOUT INSTITUTO TERRA

Instituto Terra is a Brazilian non-profit organization founded in 1998 by Lélia Wanick Salgado and Sebastião Salgado, in the Doce River Valley, a region in the heart of the Atlantic Rainforest that has been shaped by and still confronting environmental degradation.

What began as a personal commitment to restore the land has grown into one of Brazil’s most recognized environmental initiatives. Through large-scale ecosystem restoration, environmental education and sustainable rural development, Instituto Terra works to regenerate forests, protect water resources, and support the livelihoods of local communities.

Over the years, millions of trees have been planted, transforming barren land into thriving Atlantic Forest. At the same time, educational programs engage children, youth, and rural producers, fostering a culture of environmental stewardship and long-term resilience.

By reconnecting people, land, and knowledge, Instituto Terra demonstrates that ecological restoration can also be a pathway to social renewal and shared prosperity.