Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 14

Edward Burtynsky
Shipbreaking #2 Field Proof

2001

About the Item

This is one of the most curious Edward Burtynsky images we have handled to date. A striking photograph that reveals the photographer's process, but also demonstrates his willingness to experiment with the medium and production. "Shipbreaking #2 Field Proof" comes from Burtynsky's Pentimento project, a series of distressed Polaroid negatives taken as test shots for "Shipbreaking" - and then printed in large format. Raw, unfiltered and in black and white, this powerful image frames the gritty truth of the landscape, while presenting a glimpse into the artist's layered creative process. It is also an exceptionally rare instance of the artist printing in black and white. “The image under the image: pentimento. It’s a word drawn from the scholarship of painting, and it describes when the artist has painted over a section of canvas, yet traces of the earlier image persist, reemerging over time. The under-painting rises up as a ghost into the final work, revealing the process of how the painting came to be. Borrowing the word from that context, I apply it to photography, a medium redolent of time, memory and revelation.” — Edward Burtynsky. "Shipbreaking" is arguably Burtynsky's most distinctive body of work. Mostly shot in Bangladesh, Burtynsky invited the viewer to an incomprehensible landscape on the other side of the horizon where ocean liners meet their end and are dissected, pillaged or abandoned to the elements. These works are intriguing, disturbing, and curiously beautiful. Burtynsky's work can be found in the permanent collection of countless museums including the National Gallery of Canada, the Guggenheim, TATE Modern (London), and MoMA, to mention a few. Questions about this piece? Contact us. Visit our Toronto gallery on Thursdays or by appointment. "Shipbreaking #2 Field Proof" from the Pentimento project Bangladesh, 2001 Chromogenic print From an edition of 12 40”H 32”W (image) 48.75"H 40.75"W (framed) Framed with museum glass Very good condition.
  • Creator:
    Edward Burtynsky (1955, Canadian)
  • Creation Year:
    2001
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 40 in (101.6 cm)Width: 32 in (81.28 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    Very good condition.
  • Gallery Location:
    Toronto, CA
  • Reference Number:
    Seller: 12-241stDibs: LU215215507652

More From This Seller

View All
The Emergence of a Legend
By Kent Monkman
Located in Toronto, Ontario
After establishing his name as one of the most innovative and daring Canadian figurative painters, Kent Monkman began to explore the reoccurring themes from his oeuvre in different m...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Father, Mother
By Sophie Calle
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Sophie Calle (born 1953) is an internationally acclaimed French contemporary artist. Highly conceptual in her approach, Calle's projects often begin with material from her personal ...
Category

1990s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Metal

Untitled Film Still #59
By Cindy Sherman
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Since the late 1970's Cindy Sherman has donned an array of personas to explore how women are perceived and presented in Western culture. Sherman's "Untitled Film Stills...
Category

1980s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Silver Gelatin

Bobo and Evergon
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Evergon (b. 1946) is a celebrated contemporary Canadian photographer with over 40 years of artistic production. Evergon is best known for his accomplishments across photography and n...
Category

1990s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Giclée

Heron and Hawk
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Evergon (b. 1946) is a celebrated contemporary Canadian photographer with over 40 years of artistic production. Evergon is best known for his accomplishments across photography and n...
Category

1990s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Giclée

Arrows on the Ground
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Evergon (b. 1946) is a celebrated contemporary Canadian photographer with over 40 years of artistic production. Evergon is best known for his accomplishments across photography and n...
Category

1990s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Giclée

You May Also Like

Christy Turlington, New York City – Albert Watson, Fashion, Model, Art, Woman
By Albert Watson
Located in Zurich, CH
ALBERT WATSON (*1942, Scotland) Christy Turlington, New York City 1990 C-print Sheet 243 x 183 cm (95 5/8 x 72 in.) Edition of 5, plus 2 AP; AP1 print only Albert Watson (*1942, ...
Category

1990s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

C Print

Mick Jagger/Leopard – Albert Watson, photography, portrait, animal, contemporary
By Albert Watson
Located in Zurich, CH
ALBERT WATSON (*1942, Scotland) Mick Jagger/Leopard 1992/2011 Chromogenic print Image 195,6 x 152,4 cm (77 x 60 in.) Sheet 238,7 x 177,8 cm (94 x 70 in.) Frame 245 x 185,6 x 6 cm (96 1/2 x 73 1/8 x 2 3/8 in.) Edition of 5; Ed. no. 5/5 (from a sold out edition) Albert Watson (*1942, Scotland) is a Scottish photographer well known for his fashion, celebrity, and art photography, having shot over 200 Vogue and 40 Rolling Stone covers since the mid-1970s. His photographs are signature, classical, and bold, and in our world of manipulation, Watson prefers the enlargers and the trays; an artist who greatly enriches our perception with his unique photographic view. Photo District News named Watson one of the 20 most influential photographers of all time, along with Richard Avedon and Irving Penn, among others. Watson shared intimate moments about shooting celebrities like Johnny Depp, 50 Cent and Clint Eastwood and dove into the history behind famous shots like the double exposure of Mick Jagger and the leopard that Watson shot by chance. "The leopard was all over Mick so we had to build a glass partition...
Category

1990s Contemporary Portrait Photography

Materials

C Print

Kiss - model lying on the floor
By Marc Baptiste
Located in Vienna, AT
The award-winning and renowned photographer, Marc Baptiste offers the viewer a very intimate look at women. Surpassing standard portraiture, his photographs manifest a strong erotici...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Photography

Materials

C Print

The Gentleman Caller (Nick Simpson Sepia Victorian Styled Theatrical Photograph)
By Nick Simpson
Located in Hudson, NY
The Gentleman Caller (Nick Simpson Sepia Victorian Styled Theatrical Photograph) 12 x 16 inches, 21 x 26 inches framed in unique, vintage frame, anti-reflective glass, 8 ply off-white mat board. C-type archival print, edition of 7 This antique style figurative photograph was created by London based photographer, Nick Simpson, in 2013. This scene depicts 4 characters in period dress including a blindfolded man touching a woman's leg as two others peek on. Simpson's aesthetic is enhanced by his playfulness and nostalgia for the Victorian era. Simpson includes a slight patina around the sepia toned photograph's edge to accentuate its antique inspired quality. The Duratran print is paired with a dark wood frame. About the work: London based artist, Nick Simpson, is celebrated for his fictional series entitled The Bumforth Man Collection. The series consists of archival prints inspired by a mythical story concerning a quantity of glass photographic plates discovered in an old oak chest on the Bumforth Manor estate in rural England, the family home of the Gascoigne-Simpson's for over nine generations. These plates, which had laid gathering dust for over a hundred years, were supposedly the work of Simpson’s great grandfather, Samuel Heracles Gascoigne-Simpson, a disciple of William Henry Fox Talbot, commonly considered to be the father of photography. To bring this story to life, Simpson starts by building a set, authentically styled and dressed to re-create the Victorian photographic salons of the late 1900s. This becomes the stage upon which he places his eclectic choice of models and actors, all following his original tight narrative to create a richly detailed tableau. The scene is then captured in a single sitting using an original 1867 'Petzval' lens mounted on a mahogany plate camera...
Category

2010s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

Archival Paper, C Print

Hand in Mouth
By Joshua Lutz
Located in New York, NY
Digital C-print Signed and dated on label, verso 14 x 11 inches (Edition of 5) 24 x 20 inches (Edition of 5) 40 x 30 inches (Edition of 5) This photograph is offered by ClampArt, ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

C Print

GFBD, Levy
By Joshua Lutz
Located in New York, NY
Digital C-print Signed and dated on label, verso 14 x 11 inches (Edition of 5) 24 x 20 inches (Edition of 5) 40 x 30 inches (Edition of 5) This photograph is offered by ClampArt, ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Black and White Photography

Materials

C Print

Recently Viewed

View All