heading to the corporate little coffee

when i go to work very early in the morning (which means around 7:30), i often spend a little time looking at this bit of Bucharest. It's such a forced and sad piece of nature (or what's left of nature, anyway) - it reminds me about the road from Severin to Orsova - some parts of the landscape along the road look so beautiful and free, some others look so butchered by human interventions, like actual leftovers of nature (mainly around the power station).

Which reminds me about Edward Burtynsky (do visit the site for amazing photographic works, as well as for inspirational videos), who spent a great part of his time exploring the residual landscape, in order to catch glimpses of nature transformed through industry - you know, all those interventions that we often end up taking for granted. All starting from a very important statement:

Nature transformed through industry is a predominant theme in
my work. I set course to intersect with a contemporary view of the great ages of
man; from stone, to minerals, oil, transportation, silicon, and so on. To make
these ideas visible I search for subjects that are rich in detail and scale yet
open in their meaning. Recycling yards, mine tailings, quarries and refineries
are all places that are outside of our normal experience, yet we partake of
their output on a daily basis.

These images are meant as metaphors to the dilemma
of our modern existence; they search for a dialogue between attraction and
repulsion, seduction and fear. We are drawn by desire - a chance at good living,
yet we are consciously or unconsciously aware that the world is suffering for
our success. Our dependence on nature to provide the materials for our
consumption and our concern for the health of our planet sets us into an uneasy
contradiction. For me, these images function as reflecting pools of our
times.