Robert Burley Explained

Robert Burley (born March 18, 1957) is a Canadian photographer of architecture and the urban landscape.^[1] He is based in Toronto, Canada, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.^[2]

Life and work

Robert Burley grew up in rural Ontario in the town of Picton. He studied Media Studies at Ryerson Polytechnical Institute (now Toronto Metropolitan University), Toronto (BAA 1980) and later pursued graduate studies in photography at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (MFA 1986). While living in Chicago, Burley trained briefly with Hedrich-Blessing Photographers before returning to Toronto to establish Design Archive, a firm specializing in architectural photography.^[3] From 1997 to 2021 Burley was a professor at Ryerson University's School of Image Arts where he helped create new programs and resources related to photography. These include his contributions to the creation of Ryerson Library's Special Collections,^[4] the acquisition of the Black Star (photo agency) Collection,^[5] and his position as one of the founding Program Directors of the graduate program in Film + Photographic Preservation.^[6]  Throughout his career, Burley has executed numerous commissioned and self-directed multi-year projects realized as books and exhibitions. These include:

• O’Hare: Airfield on the Prairie (Chicago History Museum 1989)
• Viewing Olmsted: Photographs by Robert Burley, Lee Friedlander and Geoffrey James (Canadian Centre for Architecture 1997)
• The Disappearance of Darkness: Photography at the end of the analog era (Princeton Architectural Press 2014)
• An Enduring Wilderness: Toronto’s Natural Parklands (ECW Press 2017)
• An Accidental Wilderness: The Origins and Ecology of Toronto’s Tommy Thompson Park (University of Toronto Press 2020)

Selected Collections

• National Gallery of Canada^[7]
• Yale University Art Gallery^[8]
• Art Gallery of Hamilton^[9]
• George Eastman Museum^[10]
• Library Archives Canada^[11]
• Fotomuseum Antwerpen^[12]
• Canadian Centre for Architecture^[13]
• Chicago History Museum^[14]
• City of Toronto Archives^[15]
• Doris McCarthy Gallery, University of Toronto^[16]
• Musée Nicéphore Niépce, France^[17]
• Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal^[18]
• Ryerson Image Centre^[19]
• Vancouver Art Gallery^[20]

Awards

• 2010: Mellon Senior Fellow – Canadian Centre for Architecture^[21]
• 2018: Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
• 2018: Planning Excellence Award – Publication, Canadian Institute of Planners
• 2020: Award of Excellence – Research – The Canadian Society of Landscape Architects
• 2021: Heritage Toronto Award – Book – Accidental Wilderness: The Origins and Ecology of Toronto's Tommy Thompson Park^[22]

External links

• • Robert Burley: Photographic Proof at Canadian Centre for Architecture
• From the End of the Analog Era to the Enduring Wilderness, Robert Burley's interview on LensCulture

Notes and References

1. Web site: It Takes One: Robert Burley The Cultural Landscape Foundation. 2021-07-09. www.tclf.org.
2. Web site: Ryerson researchers named Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada. 2021-10-12. Ryerson University. en.
3. Web site: Name authority details. 2021-10-08. gencat4.eloquent-systems.com.
4. Grady. Michelle. Summer 2020. Keeping film alive: How the Kodak Canada Heritage Collection gained new life as a special collection. Ryerson Magazine. Summer 2020. 46.
5. Web site: Adams. James. April 22, 2005. Ryerson to receive major photo archive. October 5, 2005. Globe and Mail.
6. Kirschenbaum. Megan. January 1, 2012. Photographic Preservation; On Becoming A Professionalized Field. October 12, 2021. Ryerson University Library. 18–19. 10.32920/ryerson.14660688.v1 . thesis .
7. Web site: Robert Burley . National Gallery of Canada.
8. Web site: Implosions of Building 65 and 69, Kodak Park, Rochester, New York, from the portfolio The Disappearance of Darkness . artgallery.yale.edu.
9. Web site: Lake Huron/Craigleith #9 2002 . tms.artgalleryofhamilton.com . en.
10. Web site: Results Search Objects George Eastman Museum. 2021-10-13. collections.eastman.org.
11. Web site: Canada. Library and Archives. July 20, 2017. Record. 2021-10-13. www.bac-lac.gc.ca.
12. Web site: FOMU Collectie. 2021-10-13. collection.fotomuseum.be.
13. Web site: Architecture (CCA). Canadian Centre for. Search. 2021-11-10. www.cca.qc.ca. en.
14. Web site: O'Hare Field photographs by Robert Burley [graphic].]. 2021-11-10. chhiso.ent.sirsi.net.
15. Web site: September 7, 2017. An Enduring Wilderness: Toronto's Natural Parklands. 2021-11-10. City of Toronto. en-CA.
16. Web site: Doris McCarthy Gallery – My City My Six: home/place. 2021-11-10. dorismccarthygallery.utoronto.ca.
17. Web site: musée Nicéphore Niépce – Robert Burley. 2021-11-10. en.museeniepce.com.
18. Web site: Robert Burley: La Disparition de l'Obscurité . October 16, 2013 . Musée des beaux-arts du Canada . November 17, 2021.
19. Web site: Robert Burley: The Disappearance of Darkness Ryerson Image Centre. 2021-11-10. ryersonimagecentre.ca.
20. Web site: Residue: The Persistence of the Real. 2021-11-10. www.vanartgallery.bc.ca.
21. Web site: Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA). Mellon Senior Fellows 2010. 2021-07-07. www.cca.qc.ca. en.
22. Web site: Toronto. Heritage. Accidental Wilderness Tommy Thompson. 2021-11-10. Heritage Toronto. en.