Edward Burtynsky photographs the landscape of oil

翻译人员: dahong zhang 校对人员: Ting Gao

I started my journey 30 years ago.

我是30年前开始旅程的。

And I worked in mines. And I realized that

那时我在矿上工作。我意识到

this was a world unseen.

这是一个鲜为人知的角落。

And I wanted, through color and large format cameras

我想要通过彩色大幅面照相机

and very large prints,

冲印出非常大的照片，

to make a body of work that somehow

使作品从某种程度上，成为表现人类如何利用土地的象征。

became symbols of our

成为表现人类如何利用土地的象征。

use of the landscape,

成为表现人类如何利用土地的象征。

how we use the land.

成为表现人类如何利用土地的象征。

And to me this was

对我来说

a key component that somehow, through this medium of photography,

关键的一点，就是通过摄影的方法

which allows us to contemplate these landscapes,

使我们思考这些风景的深层含义，

that I thought photography was perfectly suited

我认为摄影非常适合这项工作。

to doing this type of work.

我认为摄影非常适合这项工作。

And after 17 years of photographing large industrial landscapes,

拍摄了17年大型工业风景后，

it occurred to me that

我发现

oil is underpinning the scale and speed.

石油是工业的规模和速度的基础，

Because that is what has changed,

因为改变的是我们攫取资源的速度。

is the speed at which we're taking all our resources.

因为改变的是我们攫取资源的速度。

And so then I went out to develop a whole series

所以我拍摄了整整一系列的石油风景照片。

on the landscape of oil.

所以我拍摄了整整一系列的石油风景照片。

And what I want to do is to kind of map an arc

我要绘制出这样一系列主题。

that there is extraction, where we're taking it from the ground,

第一个主题，石油开采和提炼。

refinement. And that's one chapter.

第一个主题，石油开采和提炼。

The other chapter that I wanted to look at was

第二个主题是我们如何使用：

how we use it -- our cities,

在城市里

our cars, our motorcultures,

汽车里，我们的“汽车文化“

where people gather around the vehicle

人们开车聚到一起欢庆的活动。

as a celebration.

人们开车聚到一起欢庆的活动。

And then the third one is this idea of the end of oil,

第三个主题就是石油的终点。

this entropic end,

混乱的终点。

where all of our parts of cars, our tires,

所有的汽车零件，轮胎

oil filters,

滤油气

helicopters, planes --

直升机，飞机

where are the landscapes where all of that stuff ends up?

所有这一切的坟场的风景？

And to me, again, photography was

对于我来说，摄影就是我探索这个世界找到这些地方的途径。

a way in which I could explore and research the world,

对于我来说，摄影就是我探索这个世界找到这些地方的途径。

and find those places.

对于我来说，摄影就是我探索这个世界找到这些地方的途径。

And another idea that I had as well,

我还有一个想法，

that was brought forward by an ecologist --

是由一位生态学者提出的。

he basically did a calculation where

他计算了一升汽油需要耗费多少碳、多少有机物质。

he took one liter of gas and said,

他计算了一升汽油需要耗费多少碳、多少有机物质。

well, how much carbon it would take, and how much organic material?

他计算了一升汽油需要耗费多少碳、多少有机物质。

It was 23 metric tons for one liter.

需要每升23吨。

So whenever I fill up my gas,

所以每当我加满油后，

I think of that liter, and how much carbon.

我就想到要耗费多少碳。

And I know that oil comes from the ocean and phytoplankton,

我知道石油来源于海洋浮游植物。

but he did the calculations for our Earth

他还计算了地球需要多长时间产生这些能量。

and what it had to do to produce that amount of energy.

他还计算了地球需要多长时间产生这些能量。

From the photosynthetic growth,

依靠光合作用，得需要500年才能生成每年300亿桶石油所含的能量。

it would take 500 years of that growth

依靠光合作用，得需要500年才能生成每年300亿桶石油所含的能量。

to produce what we use, the 30 billion barrels we use per year.

依靠光合作用，得需要500年才能长出每年300亿桶石油所含的能量。

And that also brought me to the fact that

这也昭示了我们社会面临的危机。

this poses such a risk to our society.

这也昭示了我们社会面临的危机。

Looking at 30 billion per year,

300亿桶每年，

we look at our two largest suppliers,

看看两大石油出口国，

Saudi Arabia and now Canada, with its dirty oil.

沙特和加拿大。

And together they only form about 15 years of supply.

他们加在一起只能供应15年。

The whole world, at 1.2 trillion estimated reserves,

全世界估计有1.2万亿桶的储量，

only gives us about 45 years.

只够我们用45年的。

So, it's not a question of if, but a question of when

问题已经不是石油峰值是否会来，而是何时来临。

peak oil will come upon us.

问题已经不是石油峰值是否会来，而是何时来临。

So, to me, using photography --

所以对于我来说，利用摄影

and I feel that all of us need to now begin to really

我认为应该开始利用我们的才干处理我们这个时代面临的最大挑战。

take the task of using our talents,

我认为应该开始利用我们的才干处理我们这个时代面临的最大挑战。

our ways of thinking,

我认为应该开始利用我们的才干处理我们这个时代面临的最大挑战。

to begin to deal with what I think is probably

我认为应该开始利用我们的才干处理我们这个时代面临的最大挑战。

one of the most challenging issues of our time,

我认为应该开始利用我们的才干处理我们这个时代面临的最大挑战。

how to deal with our energy crisis.

处理我们的能源危机。

And I would like to say that, on the other side of it,

从另一方面来说，

30, 40 years from now, the children that I have,

30，40年后我可以对我的孩子说：“

I can look at them and say, "We did everything

30，40年后我可以对我的孩子说：“

we possibly, humanly could do,

我们尽我们所能缓解危机。“

to begin to mitigate this,

我们尽我们所能缓解危机。“

what I feel is one of the most important and critical

现在就是我们这个时代最重要最关键的时刻。

moments in our time. Thank you.

现在就是我们这个时代最重要最关键的时刻。谢谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）