Edward Burtynsky establishes photography grant with Governor General's Award prize money

Renowned Toronto photographerEdward Burtynskyhas decided to take his Governor General's Award prize moneyand give it all away.

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Burtynskywas honoured by the Canada Council on Monday for his workpromotingenvironmentalism throughglobal industriallandscape photography and now he wants to help others promote their own unique artistic visions.

That's why he'sturning the$25,000 financial portion of the awardinto an annual grant to help emerging Canadian photographers create and publish their first photography books.

"I remember how hard it is to actually get a start in the medium of photography," Burtynsky, 61,toldCBC Metro Morning's Matt Galloway.

He got his first grant from the Canada Council in 1982.

"Those grants are so important. You get the wind in the back of your sails and you go out there and you've got the support of your country and you're making photographs."

The Burtynsky Grant isbeingestablishedin partnership with theScotiabankContact Photography Festival. It will award $5,000 annually for the next five yearstophotographerswho display a cohesive theme in their work that will translate well into book form.

The 'democratization' of photography

Burtynsky admits that photography books may seem quaint in the era of Instagram and online portfolios, but he says they remain an important tool for building a career.

"It gives you thatgravitasto actually get your ideas and your work out," he said. "You can send it to somebody and they'll pay attention because all of a sudden, there's some substance here, there's a context here. I think onlinedecontextualizesa lot of things."

What's more, he said, having a bookgives people amore visceral way to engage with yourart.

"The book itself remainsand it's not ephemeral. It'sactually a solid thing, so you can sit down, put it on a table and turn the pages, see the sequence of events you know, see something that you don't seeonline."

That said,Burtynsky is not afraid of what he calls " thedemocratization of the medium" through smartphones and social media.

"To be afraid of images flooding the world would be like an author being afraid of words in the world," he said.

In fact, he's recently signed up for Instagram himself. While he doesn't personally use it as an artistic tool,he sees the potential there.

"I think art can be made in any place," he said. "It's really about the artist and how they engage with the medium and how they engage with those who follow that medium."