Edward Burtynsky, “Nickel Tailings #34, Sudbury, Ontario”

Edward Burtynsky, "Nickel Tailings #34, Sudbury, Ontario" 1996. Dye-coupler print
Edward Burtynsky, “Nickel Tailings #34, Sudbury, Ontario” 1996. Dye-coupler print

The tension created in my mind between the beauty of this image—an unheard-of shade of orangey red snaking through a lusciously charcoal-grey-black landscape fading to pastoral edging trees in the distance—and my knowledge of the chemical-industrial-environmental horror it represents, creates a shiver down my spine and makes me unable to stop looking.