No, it’s not the Battlestar Galactica (but it will be visible from space). It’s a photograph of the construction of Dam Six in China’s Three Gorges Dam, taken three years ago by Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky. One of humankind’s most ambitious civil engineering projects, Three Gorges will be the largest hydro-electric dam on the planet. By its expected completion in 2011, one and a half million people will have been relocated and 1,300 villages submerged. It is just one of the many mind-bogglingly huge construction projects underway in China. As world economies shift and the Games begin, the commentariat swings its focus firmly to the sleeping giant’s barrel roll towards Western ideals and globally unprecedented consumption. Burtynksy - who has photographed many large-scale development sites in China - is part of a growing movement in photography to stimulate thoughts, feelings, policies and actions about our world. The acclaimed photographer has been shortlisted for the 2008 Prix Pictet Award in Photography, a new global competition focusing on sustainability. He also has plans to build a 10,000 year gallery to accompany the world’s first 10,000 year clock, an initiative to encourage long-term thinking, planning and action.
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Love the idea of the 10,000 clock Sam. This photo and the whole concept of the Three Gorges plan is staggering. Do you think we will ever put a cap on the human population in the next 10,000 years? Or just wait until nature takes its course?
Good questions Carl! I don’t see population in itself as the problem, but the lifestyles that we (the current rich minority in the west) lead which are so out of whack with the laws of nature. It’s daunting to consider the imminent impacts that China, India and other rapidly industrialising giants will have, all unprecedented in scale. Hmmm… I could really write an essay on that one! Fortunately there are already some great books on the subject!
I think you’re absolutely right about the lifestyles we lead. The scale is unimaginable to our small population.