Both of these films were extremely provocative, interesting works. I was remotely familiar with both photographers' bodies of work before watching the films---but not so much that I had already formed concrete opinions of their work in my own head. I kind of regret letting that happen, because---for all their visual and aural lusciousness---the movies definitely had a tone to them about each photographer. In the case of Shelby Lee Adams, I definitely think that Jennifer Baichwal could have done a lot more in terms of outlining this community within its physical and social region. Sure, you might ask, "Is that even important?" But in taking the stance that she did---to show Shelby Lee Adams at work within the community and (in my opinion) to staunchly defend him and his work---she ought to have provided more factual material for us, the viewers, to take in and perhaps come to the same position that she takes.
As for "Manufactured Landscapes," I enjoyed it---but perhaps a little too much. It was hard not to get duped by the dramatic, sensual vistas portrayed in the film. I found it pretty difficult to retain a critical eye towards the content of the film in the face of such eerie beauty. I found the film to be disarming, almost, to an extent that the truly horrible ecological disasters the viewer witnesses become an abstraction, almost---or part of an alternate universe. That's probably what both Baichwal and Burtynsky had in mind (and I have to admit that I reluctantly agree with their aggresively non-political stance, at least on an artistic level) but it does raise some pretty hairy questions about what place these photographs should occupy in our minds and global consciousnesses.
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