I started my journey 30 years ago. And I worked in mines. And I realized that this was a world unseen. And I wanted, through color and large format cameras and very large prints, to make a body of work that somehow became symbols of our use of the landscape, how we use the land. And to me this was a key component that somehow, through this medium of photography, which allows us to contemplate these landscapes, that I thought photography was perfectly suited to doing this type of work.
Savu ceļojumu es uzsāku pirms 30 gadiem. Es strādāju raktuvēs un aptvēru, ka citiem tā ir nezināma pasaule. Es vēlējos ar krāsām, platleņķa fotoaparātiem, un lielformāta fotogrāfijām radīt darbus, kas kaut kādā veidā kļūtu par ainavu izmantošanas simboliem, simboliem tam, kā izmantojam zemi. Man tas bija ārkārtīgi būtiski – kaut kā caur fotogrāfiju ļaut apcerēt šīs ainavas; manuprāt, fotogrāfija šāda veida uzdevumam ir ideāli piemērota.
And after 17 years of photographing large industrial landscapes, it occurred to me that oil is underpinning the scale and speed. Because that is what has changed, is the speed at which we're taking all our resources. And so then I went out to develop a whole series on the landscape of oil. And what I want to do is to kind of map an arc that there is extraction, where we're taking it from the ground, refinement. And that's one chapter.
Pēc 17 gadiem lielu rūpniecisko ainavu fotografēšanas man ienāca prātā, ka nafta ir mēroga un ātruma pamatā, jo tieši tas ir mainījies – ātrums, ar kādu izlietojam resursus. Tā es sāku strādāt pie veselas sērijas, kas veltīta naftas ainavām. Es vēlējos attēlot tādu kā loku, sākot no naftas ieguves, kur to iegūst no zemes un pārstrādā. Tā būtu viena nodaļa.
The other chapter that I wanted to look at was how we use it -- our cities, our cars, our motorcultures, where people gather around the vehicle as a celebration. And then the third one is this idea of the end of oil, this entropic end, where all of our parts of cars, our tires, oil filters, helicopters, planes -- where are the landscapes where all of that stuff ends up?
Citā nodaļā es vēlējos apskatīt to, kā mēs naftu izmantojam – parādot mūsu pilsētas, automašīnas, motokultūru, kur cilvēki priecīgi pulcējas ap transportlīdzekli. Trešajā nodaļā attēlota doma par naftas beigām, šo entropisku galu, kur redzamas automašīnu daļas, riepas, eļļas filtri, helikopteri, lidmašīnas – vietas, kur tas viss galu galā nonāk.
And to me, again, photography was a way in which I could explore and research the world, and find those places. And another idea that I had as well, that was brought forward by an ecologist -- he basically did a calculation where he took one liter of gas and said, well, how much carbon it would take, and how much organic material? It was 23 metric tons for one liter. So whenever I fill up my gas, I think of that liter, and how much carbon.
Kā jau teicu, fotogrāfija man bija veids, kā pētīt šo pasauli un atrast šīs vietas. Vēl viena doma, kas man bija prātā, uz kuru uzvedināja ekologs – viņš būtībā veica aprēķinu, lai noskaidrotu, cik daudz oglekļa un organiskā materiāla vajadzētu vienam benzīna litram. Vienam litram degvielas vajadzētu 23 tonnas. Tādēļ vienmēr, kad uzpildu degvielu, domāju par šo litru un to, cik daudz oglekļa tam vajadzīgs.
And I know that oil comes from the ocean and phytoplankton, but he did the calculations for our Earth and what it had to do to produce that amount of energy. From the photosynthetic growth, it would take 500 years of that growth to produce what we use, the 30 billion barrels we use per year.
Zinu, ka nafta nāk no okeāna un fitoplanktona. Tādēļ viņš veica arī aprēķinus, cik ilgu laiku Zemei vajadzētu, lai radītu šādu enerģijas daudzumu. Izmantojot augu fotosintēzi, vajadzētu 500 gadus, lai radītu to, ko mēs izmantojam – 30 miljardus barelu gadā.
And that also brought me to the fact that this poses such a risk to our society. Looking at 30 billion per year, we look at our two largest suppliers, Saudi Arabia and now Canada, with its dirty oil. And together they only form about 15 years of supply. The whole world, at 1.2 trillion estimated reserves, only gives us about 45 years. So, it's not a question of if, but a question of when peak oil will come upon us.
Tas man arī lika saprast, ka tas ir milzīgs drauds mūsu sabiedrībai. 30 miljardu patēriņš gadā, un divas lielākās naftas piegādātājas ir Saūda Arābija un Kanāda ar tās netīro naftu. To kopējo resursu pietiks vien 15 piegādes gadiem. Visas pasaules rezervju, tie ir aptuveni 1,2 triljoni, pietiks vien aptuveni 45 gadiem. Tādēļ runa nav par „vai”, bet gan „kad” iestāsies naftas ieguves maksimums.
So, to me, using photography -- and I feel that all of us need to now begin to really take the task of using our talents, our ways of thinking, to begin to deal with what I think is probably one of the most challenging issues of our time, how to deal with our energy crisis.
Es izmantoju fotogrāfiju un uzskatu, ka mums visiem tagad jāsāk rīkoties, jāizmanto savi talanti, domāšanas veids, lai sāktu risināt vienu no, manuprāt, vissarežģītākajām mūsdienu problēmām – enerģijas krīzes jautājumu.
And I would like to say that, on the other side of it, 30, 40 years from now, the children that I have, I can look at them and say, "We did everything we possibly, humanly could do, to begin to mitigate this, what I feel is one of the most important and critical moments in our time. Thank you. (Applause)
No otras puses es vēlētos pēc trīsdesmit, četrdesmit gadiem saviem bērniem skatīties acīs un teikt: „Mēs darījām visu, kas cilvēku spēkos, lai mazinātu šo krīzi, kas, manuprāt, ir viens no būtiskākajiem un nozīmīgākajiem mūsu laika mirkļiem.” Paldies. (Aplausi)