Stephen Wilkes: The passing of time, caught in a single photo
סטפן ווילקס: מעבר הזמן, שנתפש בתמונה אחת
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.
as the recording of a single moment
represents a tangible piece
than one moment in a photograph?
יותר מרגע אחד בצילום?
could actually collapse time,
of the day and the night
called "Day to Night"
iconic locations,
our collective memory.
הזיכרון הקולקטבי שלנו.
and I never move.
of humanity and light as time passes.
של האנושות והאור כשהזמן עובר.
from 15 to 30 hours
of the day and night.
הכי טובים של היום והלילה.
into one single photograph,
הטובים ביותר לתמונה אחת,
journey with time.
early morning rowers
את השייטים בבוקר המוקדם
את הנוטרדם זוהרת בלילה.
the romance of the City of Light.
את הרומנטיקה של עיר האורות.
from 50 feet in the air,
in this photograph
of going to a place like Venice
למקום כמו ונציה
a specific event.
the historical Regata,
taking place since 1498.
look exactly as they did then.
בדיוק כמו שהן נראו אז.
want you guys to understand is:
throughout the day and the night.
of magical moments.
is the fear of just missing one of them.
to create a panoramic photograph
film Romeo + Juliet.
רומאו ויוליה של באז לוהרמן.
it's a square.
a panoramic was to shoot a collage
פנורמה היתה לצלם קולאג'
embracing.
actually reflecting in it.
to my studio in New York,
"Wow, this is so cool!
"וואו, זה כל כך מגניב!
stayed with me for 13 years
has caught up to my dreams.
of the Santa Monica Pier, Day to Night.
של פיר סנטה מוניקה, ביום ובלילה.
it's like being with me
that to get views like this,
שכדי לקבל נופים כמו זה,
and I'm usually in a cherry picker
ואני בדרך כלל במנוף קטיף
12-18 hours, non-stop
is I love to people-watch.
שאני אוהב להביט באנשים.
in the house to have.
creating these photographs.
and the location,
על זווית הצילום שלי והמיקום,
and night ends.
איפה היום מתחיל והלילה נגמר.
compress it into single plane.
דוחס אותו למישור בודד.
of this work is also,
up or down, even diagonally.
למעלה למטה, אפילו באלכסון.
going on in my mind.
שמתרחש במוח שלי.
months to complete.
when I get up there
going to be in the picture,
sunrise or sunset -- no control.
או שקיעה מעולות -- אין שליטה.
and everything remained the same,
והכל נשאר אותו הדבר,
over a month of editing
שאני בוחר במשך חודשים של עריכה
into the master plate.
these two very discordant worlds.
בין שני העולמות המרוחקים האלה.
important influence in all my work
בעבודה שלי
of Albert Bierstadt,
that I did on the National Parks.
בפארקים הלאומיים.
I created of Yosemite.
of the 2016 January issue
30 hours in this picture.
and the moonlight as it transitions,
of time throughout the landscape.
the magical moments of humanity
את הרגעים הקסומים של האנושות
of Bierstadt's painting in my pocket.
to rise in the valley,
with excitement
exact same lighting
את אותה תאורה של בירשטדט
the things I love
and, especially, history.
of Barack Obama.
waiting with the children,
when I create photographs like this.
כשאני יוצר תמונות כמו זו.
up in the air
shifted our weight,
1,800 in this picture,
things doing this work.
במהלך העבודה הזו.
are patience
like New York from above,
in cars anymore.
the energy of New York,
to really capture that.
על העבודה שלי,
I would checkerboard time.
it's actually day.
wrap our heads around.
begin to put a face on time.
מתחילות לשים פנים לזמן.
metaphysical visual reality.
looking at a place,
a little differently
with our camera,
not even look at Sacré-Coeur.
in using it as a backdrop.
extraordinary example,
what we think the human experience is
שהחוויה האנושית היא
is evolving into.
become more important
for me personally:
Park in Tanzania.
in the middle of the Seronera,
the peak migration
the most diverse range of animals.
את המגוון הכי גדול של חיות.
during the peak migration,
were drawn to the water.
the same way it was behaving,
to capture something unique.
18 feet in the air.
share a single resource called water.
חולקים משאב יחיד שנקרא מים.
is supposed to have wars over
grunted at each other.
that we humans don't.
is really a new way of seeing,
within a photograph.
along with photography,
a deeper meaning of time and memory,
משמעות עמוקה יותר של זמן וזיכרון,
of untold stories,
של סיפורים שלא סופרו,
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