Renowned Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky has spent a lifetime documenting mankind’s impact on the planet, picturing German coal mines, vast industrial landscapes in China and more recently, salt pans, gold tailings, oil bunkering and more in sub-Saharan Africa. His current exhibition of photos shot in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and beyond at Chelsea’s Sundaram Tagore Gallery includes otherworldly landscapes created by the harvesting of salt, including these Salt Ponds near Naglou Sam Sam in Senegal. In shallow, man-made ponds, microorganisms change color as evaporation causes salinity to increase, resulting in a spectacular, painterly display. (On view in Chelsea through April 1st).
Edward Burtynsky, Salt Ponds #4, Near Naglou Sam Sam, Senegal, pigment inkjet print on Kodak Professional Photo Paper, 48 x 64 inches, 2019.
Merrily Kerr is an art critic and writer based in New York. For more than 20 years, Merrily has published in international art magazines including Time Out New York, Art on Paper, Flash Art, Art Asia Pacific, Art Review, and Tema Celeste in addition to writing catalogue essays and guest lecturing. Merrily teaches art appreciation at Marymount Manhattan College and has taught for Cooper Union Continuing Education.
For more than a decade Merrily has crafted personalized tours of cultural discovery in New York's galleries and museums for individuals and groups, including corporate tours, collectors, artists, advertising agencies, and student groups from Texas Woman's University, Parsons School of Design, Chicago's Moody Institute, Cooper Union Continuing Education, Hunter College Continuing Education and other institutions. Merrily's tours have been featured in The New York Times, Conde Nast Traveler, Sydney Morning Herald and Philadelphia Magazine.
Merrily is licensed by New York City's Department of Consumer Affairs as a tour guide and is a member of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA USA)
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