Editor’s Note: In Snap, we have a look at the ability of a single {photograph}, chronicling tales about how each trendy and historic photos have been made.
NCS
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Depicting infinite rows of uniformed staff, Edward Burtynsky’s iconic images of mid-2000s Chinese factories spoke to the seemingly inexhaustible human labor behind China’s financial miracle. Just 20 years later, the photographer’s glimpse inside an electrical automotive plant close to Shanghai presents the other phenomenon: a full absence of individuals.
“This is a factory built by humans but run by robots,” Burtynsky mentioned of the power, which is owned by high Chinese automaker BYD, on a Zoom name. “I think it’s a foreshadowing of where our future is.”
BYD is on the forefront of a technological revolution. Last 12 months, the corporate’s annual revenues surpassed American rival Tesla’s for the first time because it delivered 4.27 million autos (the 1.76 million EVs it produced in 2024 was simply in need of Tesla’s 1.79 million, however the Chinese firm additionally delivered round 2.5 million hybrid autos). Its success is, partly, down to cost: BYD’s entry-level mannequin, the Seagull, begins at round $10,000 in China, a fraction of the $32,000 Tesla expenses for its least costly providing, the Model 3. And this affordability is, partly, all the way down to extremely automated manufacturing.
In 2023, Burtynsky was granted uncommon entry to a BYD plant in Changzhou, a metropolis about two hours’ drive from Shanghai. He obtained permission by way of the non-public connections of British architect Sir Norman Foster, who wished a cowl picture for Domus, a journal he was guest-editing about the way forward for varied industries, together with transportation.
The automotive large was, Burtynsky mentioned, “very sensitive” about what he was allowed to doc. But he believes he’s the primary impartial photographer to be granted entry to one of many firm’s factories.
“The humans are really just there to maintain the robots and keep the programs running clean,” he mentioned of the secretive facility, referencing so-called “dark factories,” that are so devoid of human staff they will function with out lights. “Of course, corporations want that. There are no unions, there’s no sick pay and, as long as there’s electricity being fed to (the machines), they can work 24/7.”
The standout picture from Burtynsky’s go to, merely titled “BYD Manufacturing Facility #1,” paints a complicated image — not solely of fast change in China however of the ripple results being felt in provide chains and labor markets around the globe.
The picture’s “central character,” because the Canadian photographer put it, is an unfinished automobile on a manufacturing line. Columns and beams round it repeat and recede to a vanishing level, producing a mesmerizing symmetry. The factory possessed a “cathedral-esque” high quality, he mentioned.
In a sense, although, the picture is the final chapter in a story unfolding 1000’s of miles away.
The picture is a part of a wider physique of labor, known as “China in Africa,” exploring what Burtynsky considers to be the “next stage of globalization.” Currently on present at Hong Kong’s Flowers Gallery, the collection contrasts BYD’s spotless factory with Chinese-owned rail crossings, warehouses and attire factories in African international locations together with Ethiopia.
Taken collectively, they depict what the photographer known as China’s “complete vertical integration, from supply chain to finished product.”
In different phrases, the human labor he noticed within the mid-2000s hasn’t gone — it’s been offshored. And BYD, which is reported to have bought lithium mines (for battery manufacturing) and mineral rights in international locations such as Brazil, typifies the mannequin, he mentioned.
“They have literally secured their complete supply chain,” he mentioned.
Burtynsky is greatest identified for aerial photographs of dramatic landscapes scarred by agriculture and trade, from copper mines to salt pans. Though his photos typically painting human overexploitation, he considers them to be “fairly neutral.”
“I do it in a sort of deadpan aesthetic,” he mentioned of his photographic fashion. “I don’t try to lean the viewer one way or the other, in terms of ‘This is bad’ or ‘This is good.’ I’m not trying to manipulate you.”
His images nearly all the time include some ethical ambiguity. “Without copper,” he provided, illustrating the tradeoff between environmental degradation and human progress, “I couldn’t be having this conversation with you.”
His depiction of BYD’s operations — and automation at giant — is arguably much more paradoxical. Car manufacturing could also be resource-heavy however electrical autos might assist finish our dependance on fossil fuels, making the factories a image of environmental restoration, not injury.
What’s extra, China might not mourn the lack of jobs that Burtynsky described as “dehumanizing.” And he would know: Long earlier than taking on pictures full time, he labored at factories owned by automotive corporations General Motors and Ford. “You feel like you’re part of the machine,” he recalled. “You’re just being used for your human energy because they haven’t (yet) found a machine that can do what you’re doing.”
The enclosed mechanical worlds of his factory images additionally differ from his large-scale landscapes, the place nature supplies the sense of scale. But what unites all of Burtynsky’s work is his try and evoke a “sense of wonder.”
“I’m always trying to point my camera into worlds that we’re not all that familiar with, that (invite) the kind of scrutiny that a big, large format print can give you,” he added. “You can jump in and look at the small grease stain on the floor, or some splash of oil on the side of a wall in this pristine plant. You can see these little bits of everyday noise that take it to a more grounded, humanistic level.”
“China in Africa” is at the moment exhibiting at Flowers Gallery in Hong Kong; “The Great Acceleration” is on on the International Center of Photography in New York City till September 28, 2025.