Edward Burtynski's "Manufactured Landscapes"

Knowing that the DeadPan style of photography eliminates features of the work that can portray emotion or can be interpreted by the viewer, I was curious to see how this could be done successfully through video. I think Edward Burtynski was wise to choose a factory as his setting for his film, considering the monotony of the backdrop through its vast length and repetitious motions, sounds, and colors. Despite the occasional eye contact within the first few minutes and the camera panned the length of the factory, there was little emotion to be felt; however, as a viewer, I was intrigued by these monotonous and unending scenes because it kept me wondering if there was something more to come, thereby forcing me to analyze every single detail that I could. The vastness and sameness of the setting was reinforced not only by the size of the facility, but also by the workers and how they seemed to blend in. While each worker was on their own individually performing a task, the quantity of workers made them appear as a colony of ants that was visually appealing to observe as a whole.

In analyzing the title, I quite enjoyed the connection between it and the workers in the facility. The comparison between the mural painting of a field of sunflowers and the workers in their yellow uniforms made for a lovely juxtaposition – a natural and organic landscape brimming with yellow flowers contrasting with a manmade industrial landscape filled with yellow uniforms.