Dramatic Edward Burtynsky image shows stark desert divide

There is no geophysical logic with a sharp partition in the middle of this image. An American federal act, the land order of 1785, divided the vast Western territories of North America into the rectilinear cantons and sections. Thus, when the pumps draw water from the aquifer under the valley of the Salt river, in Arizona, squares of desert like this suburbs of Phoenix become green, installed and occupied.

The Aboriginal peoples Pima and Maricopa used to cultivate this land; It was transformed into this comfortable comfortable in the 2000s. Valley colonies as this depend on an increasingly complex and expensive water management system.

Photographer Edward Burtynsky was in a helicopter en route to the Delta du River Colorado already deserted in Mexico in 2011 when he spotted this place. As a student, his first duty was to “capture evidence of human activities”. He likes to say that after 40 years of pioneering efforts with large format colors, a digital photograph and drones, he has more or less delivered. “I was early there,” he said, “trying to understand everything, trying to tell the story of our impact on the planet.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5WVWBIJOB4

This photo and more photos of Burtynsky are exhibited in a solo exhibition, The Great Acceleration, at the New York International Photography Center until September 28.