THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

By William Meyers

Oil: Edward Burtynsky
HASTED HUNT KRAEUTLER
Through November 28

One of the reasons Edward Burtynsky’s large-format photographs work is that they contain critical details that would be lost in smaller sized prints. For instance, “Silver Lake Operations #1, Lake Lefroy, Western Australia, 2007,” an aerial picture of a mining site, looks like an abstract expressionist painting of concentric circles of red, brown and black, until you get close to it and see the itty-bitty yellow shapes near the middle. Once you realize the yellow objects are earthmovers, and process their size relative to the whole, the immensity of the mine snaps into focus. “SOCAR Oil Fields #1a & #1b, Baku, Azerbaijan, 2006” is a diptych; each panel is 40-by-60 inches. The vast oil field might be anywhere, except that when you ex-amine the right panel you can make out in the hazy distance a mosque and its two minarets.

The show features Mr. Burtynsky’s meticulous images of the extraction, refining, uses and environmental consequences of oil. The titles suggest the range of his interest: “Alberta Oil Sands #10, Alberta, Canada, 2007,” “Oil Refineries #23, Oakville, Ontario, Canada, 1999,” “Highway #5, Los Angeles, California, USA, 2009,” “VW Lot #2a & #2b, Shanghai, China, 2005.” The images are alternately beautiful, awesome, and—occasionally—terrifying