The beauty of factories and rubbish dumps

Manufactured Landscapes is an exhibition comprised of selected pictures spanning the past 15 years of Edward Burtynsky's career.

It is the first solo exhibition of the photographer's works in Poland and the collections come from various museums across the world, including the US, Russia, France and Canada.

Burtynsky's work focuses on the man-made landscape, finding inspiration in landfill sites, recycling yards, factories, mines and dams. These structures are his signature subjects in creating a challenge to the accepted ideals of landscape photography. His work features subtle highlights of social and environmental issues faced by countries around the globe. Critics also believe that the exhibition will lead spectators to question the human impact on nature, as well as how we perceive the ideals of morality and beauty.

Although he uses non-traditional subject matter, Burtynsky continues the tradition of landscape photography. The pictures themselves are noted for their striking aesthetic appeal, capturing images of inaccessible places in China, Canada and India. The collection consists of a great number of large-scale pictures, under the curatorship of Piotr Piotrowski.

Burtynsky was born in 1955 in Ukraine and later moved with his family to Ontario. He studied photography at Ryerson University and graphics at Niagara College.

The image above is Edward Burtynsky's Three Gorges Dam, Dam #6, Yangtze River, China, 2002. The image is courtesy of Galeria Toni Tapies, Barcelona, Galerie Stephan Röpke, Köln, and Flowers East Gallery, London.

The exhibition runs until January 31 at Yours Gallery at Krakowskie Przedmieście 33 in Warsaw. For more information log on to www.yoursgallery.pl