Surreal beauty in Chinese EV factory without many people

Surreal beauty in Chinese EV factory without many people

In Snap examines the strength of a single photo and tells stories about how both modern and historical images were taken.

The change in industry

Edward Burtynsky's iconic photographs from China's factories in the 2000s impressively show the endless rows of uniformed workers and illustrate the apparently inexhaustible human work behind China's economic miracle. Just two decades later, Burtynsky presented insights into an electric car plant near Shanghai in a new work, which shows the exact opposite: the complete absence of people.

"This is a factory that is built by people but is operated by robots," said Burtynsky in a zoom conference on the site that belongs to the leading Chinese car manufacturer BYD. "I think this is a premonition of where our future is."

The progress of BYD

BYD is at the top of a technological revolution. Last year, the company's annual turnover exceeded Tesla for the first time by delivering 4.27 million vehicles. The BYD entry-level price model, the Seagull, costs around $ 10,000 in China. This is compared to Teslas Model 3, which is the cheapest offer in the company with $ 32,000. This affordability is partially due to the highly automated production.

In 2023, Burtynsky received rare access to a BYD plant in Changzhou, about two hours from Shanghai. Access was made possible by personal connections by the British architect Sir Norman Foster, who wanted to make a cover picture for the magazine Domus, which he published on the subject of the future of various industries, including mobility.

"The company was very sensitive to what I was able to document," reported Burtynsky, who believed that it was the first independent photographer, received access to one of the company's factories.

The automation of production

"People are really only there to wait for the robots and keep the programs going," he said about the secret facility and referred to the so -called "dark factories", which are so deserted that they can be operated without light. "Of course, companies want this. There are no unions, no health claims and as long as the machines are supplied with electricity, they can work around the clock."

global effects

The outstanding picture of Burtynsky's visit, simply “Byd Manufacturing Facility #2”, conveys a complex picture - not only from the fast -paced changes in China, but also from the effects on supply chains and labor markets worldwide.

"The central character" of the picture, according to the Canadian photographer, is an unfinished vehicle on a production line. Columns and carriers surround the car and create a fascinating symmetry that gives the work a cathedral -like quality.

in a way, Burtynsky noticed, the photo is the last chapter of a story that unfolds thousands of kilometers. The picture belongs to a larger collection called " China in Africa " View over the "next stage of globalization". The series can currently be seen in the Flowers Gallery in Hong Kong and contrasts the flawless BYD factory with Chinese railway tracks, storage and clothing factories in African countries such as Ethiopia.

moral gray zones

Burtynsky is known for aerial photographs of dramatic landscapes drawn by agriculture and industry. Although his pictures often represent the overuse of humans, he sees them as "quite neutral". "I do it in a kind of dead person and aesthetic style," he said. "I'm not trying to steer the viewer in a certain direction, in relation to whether it is 'bad' or 'good'."

His photographs often contain a moral ambivalence. "Without copper", he consolidated his argument about the struggle between environmental impact and human progress, "I couldn't have this conversation with them."

The representation of BYDS operational processes and automation in large are increasingly paradoxical. Vehicle production is resource -intensive, but electric vehicles could help end our dependence on fossil fuels, which could make the factories a symbol of ecological recovery and not for destruction.

china could also not mourn the loss of jobs, which Burtynsky describes as "dehumanizing". Burtynsky knows this from his own experience: Before he operated photography full -time, he worked in factories from automotive manufacturers such as General Motors and Ford. "You feel as if you were part of the machine," he recalled. "You are only used for your human energy because you have not yet found a machine that can do what you do yourself."

The closed mechanical worlds of his factory photos also differ from its large -scale landscapes, in which nature conveys a feeling for the dimension. What all Burtynsky's work unites is the attempt to create a "miracle feeling".

"I always try to judge my camera in worlds that are not too familiar to us, which invite the kind of exam that can give a large, scale image," he added. "You can jump into it and see the small fat stain on the floor or the oil that sprays on the wall in this flawless system. You can perceive these small everyday tones that bring it to a more common, humanistic level."

" China in Africa " is currently in flower gallery in Hong Kong to see; " The great acceleration "is in the International Center of Photography in New York see.