The Surrey Art Gallery has received what it calls its "most significant gift ever," thanks to celebrated photographer Edward Burtynsky, who donated more than three dozen of his large-format images to the B.C. venue.

Surrey officials said the Toronto-based photographer has donated 37 of his works to the gallery, which is hosting Edward Burtynsky: Uneasy Beauty, a solo exhibit featuring images of Western Canada.

Judy Villeneuve, a Surrey city councillor, thanked Burtynsky for his gift, "his support for the Surrey Art Gallery and the legacy these photographs will leave for our citizens for generations."

Most of the photos donated are on display as part of Uneasy Beauty. The exhibit, in turn, is being presented as part of the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad, which began Sunday.

Featuring Canadian landscapes both natural and industrial, the donated images span more than two decades of work and hail from six of Burtynsky's photo series: Alberta Oil Sands, Container Ports, Homesteads, Mines, Oil Fields and Railcuts.

"These images are meant as metaphors to the dilemma of our modern existence," Burtynsky said.

"Our dependence on nature to provide the materials for our consumption and our concern for the health of our planet sets us into an uneasy contradiction. For me, these images function as reflecting pools of our times."

Burtynsky, whose work is collected by museums across Canada and abroad, is scheduled to appear at the Surrey Art Gallery on Feb. 12 to speak about his work.

Edward Burtynsky: Uneasy Beauty, which focuses on images of B.C. and Alberta, continues at the Surrey gallery until March 22.