Caroline Giles Banks – Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
The Eye of the Beholder
In the Company of Burtynsky and Basho
Edward Burtynsy’s photographs are stories of human alterations to the Earth. Taken using drones and fixed-wing aircraft these depict large-scale industrial projects and their effect on the environment. I am especially drawn to a photo of the tailings pond of an African diamond mine. Seen from the air, it appears almost beautiful, like a massive flower with its black-and-white petals opened and impressed upon the ground. I am reminded of Basho’s words:
How admirable!
to see lighting and not think
life is fleeting
Translation by Robert Hass
The Essential Haiku: Verses of Basho, Buson and Issa.
New Jersey: The Ecco Press, 1994
First published in Drifting Sands Haibun #19 (January 2023)
See “Edward Burtynsky. Over 40 Years of Bearing Witness to the Impacts of Human Industry on the Planet.” www.edwardburtynsky.com