Robert Burley (b. 1957, Picton, ON) is a Canadian photographer and visual artist based in Toronto. His work explores the complex relationship between nature and the city, with a focus on architecture, urban landscapes, and the transformation of built environments.

Over a career spanning more than 40 years, Burley has undertaken extensive photographic investigations of subjects including Chicago’s O’Hare Airfield, the legacy of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, the Great Lakes, Toronto’s natural parklands, and the historic Carrying Place Trail. His commissioned and independent projects also examine disappearing industrial architecture, urban sprawl, and the preservation of heritage buildings.

Burley’s photographs have been widely exhibited, published, and collected by major institutions such as the National Gallery of Canada, George Eastman Museum, Musée de l’Elysée, Yale University Art Gallery, the Canadian Centre for Architecture, and Fotomuseum Antwerp (FOMU).

His work is featured in several acclaimed publications, including Viewing Olmsted: Photographs by Robert Burley, Lee Friedlander, and Geoffrey James (MIT Press, 1996); The Disappearance of Darkness: Photography at the End of the Analog Era (Princeton Architectural Press, 2012); An Enduring Wilderness: Toronto’s Natural Parklands (ECW Press, 2017); and Accidental Wilderness: The Origins and Ecology of Toronto’s Tommy Thompson Park (University of Toronto Press, 2020).

A recipient of numerous awards and honours, Burley was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2018 and has held a Senior Mellon Fellowship at the Canadian Centre for Architecture. He is represented by the Stephen Bulger Gallery.