Edward Burtynsky: Taking Place

Edward Burtynsky: Taking Place

Opening Reception: Thursday, September 11, 2025, at 6:30 pm, Reeves Museum of Ceramics

World-renowned photographer, Edward Burtynsky, captures the magnitude of lands deeply marked and affected by human industry. The exhibition will be up September 3, 2025 through April 18, 2026 in the Gottwald Gallery of the Reeves Museum of Ceramics. 

“Taking Place” invites viewers to reflect on how nature is deeply transformed through the human production of modern-day comforts. Burtynsky’s large-format aerial photographs are both compelling and troubling, blurring lines between abstract art and documentation. The pieces capture the magnitude of lands deeply marked and affected by human industry, and visually contradict the realities they are meant to document: the harmful and disturbing aftermath of modern-day processes used to maintain a growing global population. With “Taking Place,” Burtynsky bears witness to the impact of human beings on nature, inviting us to reflect on our environmental impact and how we shape the world in which we live.

This exhibition is a collaboration between the Roger Mudd Center for Ethics and the W&L Art Museum and Galleries.