Homesteads

From the beginning of his career, Burtynsky was attuned to the delicate balance that exists between humans and the environment. We can see this clearly in a series of photographs he called Homesteads. The title evokes images of the self-reliant pioneers of the nineteenth century, a theme that presents itself in images such as Homesteads #30. In the Homesteads series, the precise geographic location, whether in British Columbia, Alberta, Montana, or upstate New York, is not really significant, since the primary elements remain the same: the small homes and outbuildings dotting the nearly empty land. The central meaning of these pictures is the rudimentary interaction between people and the land.