Stephen Wilkes: The passing of time, caught in a single photo
Stephen Wilkes: Le temps qui passe, capturé dans une seule photo
By blending up to 100 still photographs into a seamless composite that captures the transition from day to night, Stephen Wilkes reveals the stories hidden in familiar locations. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
qui racontent une histoire.
as the recording of a single moment
comme la capture d'un instant précis
represents a tangible piece
représente une partie tangible
than one moment in a photograph?
qu'un seul moment dans une photo ?
could actually collapse time,
faire s'effondrer le temps,
of the day and the night
du jour et de la nuit,
called "Day to Night"
« du jour à la nuit »
iconic locations,
des lieux emblématiques,
our collective memory.
à notre mémoire collective.
and I never move.
et je ne bouge jamais.
de l'humanité, la lumière au fil du temps.
of humanity and light as time passes.
from 15 to 30 hours
15 à 30 heures
of the day and night.
du jour et de la nuit.
dans une seule photographie
into one single photograph,
journey with time.
conscient avec le temps.
depuis le pont de la Tournelle.
early morning rowers
au petit matin sur la Seine.
the romance of the City of Light.
le romance de la Ville Lumière.
from 50 feet in the air,
travaillant à 15 mètres du sol,
in this photograph
sur cette photo
est un projet mondial.
autour de l'Histoire.
of going to a place like Venice
d'aller à un endroit comme Venise
lors d'un évènement spécifique.
a specific event.
the historical Regata,
la régate historique,
taking place since 1498.
look exactly as they did then.
n'ont pas changé.
want you guys to understand is:
la chose suivante :
throughout the day and the night.
tout au long du jour et de la nuit.
of magical moments.
des moments magiques.
is the fear of just missing one of them.
la peur de rater l'un d'entre eux.
to create a panoramic photograph
une photo panoramique
film Romeo + Juliet.
de Baz Luhrmann « Roméo + Juliette ».
it's a square.
et j'ai réalisé que c'était un carré.
a panoramic was to shoot a collage
un panorama était de faire un collage
embracing.
qui s'étreignaient.
mon appareil photo vers la droite,
un miroir sur le mur
actually reflecting in it.
to my studio in New York,
"Wow, this is so cool!
« C'est vraiment cool !
stayed with me for 13 years
has caught up to my dreams.
rattrape enfin mes rêves.
of the Santa Monica Pier, Day to Night.
du jour à la nuit
it's like being with me
de comment c'est d'être avec moi
that to get views like this,
que, pour avoir des clichés comme ça,
en l'air dans une nacelle
and I'm usually in a cherry picker
12-18 hours, non-stop
environ 12-18 heures sans arrêt
is I love to people-watch.
c'est que j'adore regarder les gens.
in the house to have.
creating these photographs.
and the location,
mon point de vue et le lieu,
où le jour commence et où la nuit finit.
and night ends.
et le comprime dans un plan.
compress it into single plane.
of this work is also,
up or down, even diagonally.
voire même en diagonale.
going on in my mind.
dans ma tête en temps réel.
months to complete.
plusieurs mois à faire.
quand je vais là-haut
when I get up there
qui va être sur la photo,
going to be in the picture,
sunrise or sunset -- no control.
ou le coucher du soleil.
and everything remained the same,
et que rien n'a changé,
choisis pendant un mois de retouche
over a month of editing
into the master plate.
avec la planche maîtresse.
entre ces deux mondes en désaccord.
these two very discordant worlds.
important dans mon travail
important influence in all my work
of Albert Bierstadt,
that I did on the National Parks.
série sur les parcs nationaux.
I created of Yosemite.
of the 2016 January issue
de janvier 2016
plus de 30 heures.
30 hours in this picture.
au bord d'une falaise,
au moment de transition,
and the moonlight as it transitions,
of time throughout the landscape.
du temps à travers le paysage.
ces moments magiques de l'humanité
the magical moments of humanity
de Bierstadt dans ma poche.
of Bierstadt's painting in my pocket.
to rise in the valley,
with excitement
et j'ai pensé :
j'ai la même lumière que Bierstadt
exact same lighting
est à propos de tout,
de tout ce que j'aime
the things I love
and, especially, history.
et surtout de l'Histoire.
de Barack Obama en 2013.
of Barack Obama.
waiting with the children,
qui attend avec les enfants,
when I create photographs like this.
avec ce genre de photo.
up in the air
à 15 mètres dans les airs,
shifted our weight,
que mon assistant et moi bougions,
1,800 in this picture,
nos pieds en position
en faisant ce travail.
things doing this work.
are patience
les plus importantes sont la patience
like New York from above,
une ville comme New York,
dans les voitures,
in cars anymore.
l'énergie de New York,
the energy of New York,
to really capture that.
vraiment ceci.
que Times Square est un canyon,
de structurer le temps en damier.
I would checkerboard time.
it's actually day.
wrap our heads around.
begin to put a face on time.
à mettre un visage au temps.
métaphysique visuelle.
metaphysical visual reality.
looking at a place,
à regarder un endroit,
a little differently
votre appareil photo,
with our camera,
le Sacré-Coeur.
not even look at Sacré-Coeur.
comme arrière-plan.
in using it as a backdrop.
extraordinary example,
ceci démontre
what we think the human experience is
la perception humaine d'une expérience
is evolving into.
become more important
bien plus important
particulière pour moi :
for me personally:
Park in Tanzania.
Serengeti en Tanzanie.
in the middle of the Seronera,
au milieu du Seronera,
période de migration
the peak migration
un peu de chance une variété d'animaux.
the most diverse range of animals.
during the peak migration,
pendant la période de migration,
were drawn to the water.
the same way it was behaving,
to capture something unique.
quelque chose d'unique.
où on a photographié.
18 feet in the air.
share a single resource called water.
partager le même point d'eau.
is supposed to have wars over
que l'humanité se disputera
grunted at each other.
that we humans don't.
ce que nous n'avons pas compris :
que l'on doit tous partager.
est vraiment une nouvelle manière de voir,
is really a new way of seeing,
à l'intérieur d'une photo.
within a photograph.
along with photography,
évolue avec la photographie,
a deeper meaning of time and memory,
du temps et de la mémoire,
narration d'histoires inconnues,
of untold stories,
sur notre monde.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Stephen Wilkes - Narrative photographerBy blending up to 100 still photographs into a seamless composite that captures the transition from day to night, Stephen Wilkes reveals the stories hidden in familiar locations.
Why you should listen
Since opening his studio in New York City in 1983, photographer Stephen Wilkes has built an unprecedented body of work and a reputation as one of America's most iconic photographers, widely recognized for his fine art, editorial and commercial work.
His photographs are included in the collections of the George Eastman Museum, James A. Michener Art Museum, Houston Museum of Fine Arts, Dow Jones Collection, Griffin Museum of Photography, Jewish Museum of NY, Library of Congress, Snite Museum of Art, The Historic New Orleans Collection, Museum of the City of New York, 9/11 Memorial Museum and numerous private collections. His editorial work has appeared in, and on the covers of, leading publications such as the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, TIME, Fortune, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated and many others.
In 1998, a one-day assignment to the south side of Ellis Island led to a 5-year photographic study of the island's long abandoned medical wards where immigrants were detained before they could enter America. Through his photographs and video, Wilkes helped secure $6 million toward the restoration of the south side of the island.
Day to Night, Wilkes' most defining project, began in 2009. These epic cityscapes and landscapes, portrayed from a fixed camera angle for up to 30 hours capture fleeting moments of humanity as light passes in front of his lens over the course of full day. Blending these images into a single photograph takes months to complete. Day to Night has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning as well as dozens of other prominent media outlets and, with a grant from the National Geographic Society, was recently extended to include America's National Parks in celebration of their centennial anniversary. The series will be published by TASCHEN as a monograph in 2017.
Wilkes, who lives and maintains his studio in Westport, CT, is represented by Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery, New York; Peter Fetterman Gallery, Los Angeles; Monroe Gallery of Photography, Santa Fe; and ARTITLEDContemporary, The Netherlands.
Stephen Wilkes | Speaker | TED.com