Road Warrior provides travel tips from those who know best: busy executives and other globetrotters. See previous columns
Photographer Edward Burtynsky is known for his images of vast industrial landscapes and recently co-directed his first documentary about the abuse of water and looming threats to the world’s water supply.
The nomadic Canadian talks to the Journal about the dangers of shooting photos from helicopters, avoiding jail time and fly fishing on the Canada-Alaska border.
How often are you on the road?
Probably half of the year. I travel at least once a month, maybe twice.
Where do you go most?
New York, Los Angeles or San Francisco. In Asia, I’ve been to mainland China probably 12 times on shoots. And now Hong Kong and Singapore because [one of my gallerists] is there.
Best airport?
Hong Kong because of the high-speed train and the way you can check your luggage in the city. They are very efficient and you are never delayed too long.
You often shoot from the air, placing your camera in a hole cut into the bottom of a plane or helicopter. Is it dangerous?
There’s no picture that’s worth giving up my life for. It’s a general rule I go by. But it’s a little disconcerting when you are in helicopters with the doors off. You always worry about something going wrong.
Best travel experience?
Northern British Columbia, under the Alaskan border. It’s one of the last pristine landscapes you can imagine. It was a nice break from looking at some of the worse places on the planet for the water project. I was on a lake learning how to fly fish. Every three minutes we had a trout on our line and the water was so clean you could dip your cup in and drink it.
Have you ever gotten into trouble while traveling?
Yes, when I tried to photograph e-waste operations in China. At the time, I failed to realize the government had decreed this a heavy-polluting industry that was illegal, but nothing had changed except that now that it was illegal, nobody could photograph it. So we were detained and brought into police stations three times. The fourth time, we thought we’d get thrown into jail but [my Asian producer] talked his way out of the problem.
What’s your packing strategy?
I pack no more than a week’s clothing. I’d rather do laundry at a hotel than pack for longer. I always have enough meds and cold remedies. Traveling a lot can mess you up. Especially if I’m shooting, I can’t afford to be sick.
How do you cope with jet lag?
I’m lucky because I can sleep on demand without pharmaceutical upgrades. My trick is to land in a country and be in the necessary state—awake or ready to go to sleep—for that time frame.
Favorite hotel?
The St. Regis in Beijing, where for the first time, I ended up in a presidential suite that came with a butler. I had this huge space and it was beautifully done. It was the lap of luxury. We felt totally pampered.
Where would you like to go that you haven’t been?
Ukraine, where my parents were born. I speak the language but I’ve never been. The other place I’ve not explored is Africa.
How has your travel changed your outlook on the world?
My research takes me to the largest expressions of human use of nature. The outcome of 30 years of this work is that I have a fairly profound sense of the transformation of our planet. To me, it’s no surprise that climate change is happening, that water issues are beginning to rear their heads and desertification is growing. Sadly, my particular projects have given me a prescient look of where we are going. It’s a little scary.
–Edited from an interview with Payal Uttam
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