Stephen Wilkes: The passing of time, caught in a single photo
Stephen Wilkes: Tidens gång, fångad i ett enda foto
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
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som berättar historier.
as the recording of a single moment
som nedtecknandet av ett ögonblick,
represents a tangible piece
representerar en konkret bit
than one moment in a photograph?
än bara ett ögonblick i ett foto?
could actually collapse time,
kunde komprimera tiden,
of the day and the night
av dagen och natten,
called "Day to Night"
som jag kallar "Dag till natt"
iconic locations,
att jag fotograferar ikoniska platser,
vårt kollektiva minne.
our collective memory.
and I never move.
och flyttar aldrig på mig.
flyktiga ögonblick medan tiden går.
of humanity and light as time passes.
from 15 to 30 hours
of the day and night.
från dag och natt.
till ett enda fotografi,
into one single photograph,
vår medvetna resa med tiden.
journey with time.
early morning rowers
de tidiga morgonroddarna
upplyst på kvällen.
the romance of the City of Light.
romantiken i ljusets stad.
from 50 feet in the air,
från 15 meter upp i luften,
in this photograph
har alltid handlat om historia.
of going to a place like Venice
att åka till ett ställe som Venedig
a specific event.
den historiska regattan,
the historical Regata,
gått av stapeln sedan 1498.
taking place since 1498.
look exactly as they did then.
ser exakt ut som de gjorde då.
want you guys to understand is:
att ni ska förstå är:
throughout the day and the night.
genom dagen och natten.
of magical moments.
av magiska ögonblick.
is the fear of just missing one of them.
är rädslan att missa ett sådant.
skulle skapa en panoramabild
to create a panoramic photograph
i Baz Luhrmanns film Romeo + Juliet.
film Romeo + Juliet.
it's a square.
och insåg: Det är ett torg.
a panoramic was to shoot a collage
var att fota ett collage
embracing.
att omfamnade varandra.
actually reflecting in it.
den enda bilden, frågade jag dem:
på den här bilden?"
to my studio in New York,
till min studio i New York,
"Wow, this is so cool!
"Wow, det här är häftigt!
stayed with me for 13 years
sedan med mig i 13 år
has caught up to my dreams.
kom ikapp mina drömmar.
of the Santa Monica Pier, Day to Night.
av Santa Monica-piren, dag till natt.
att vara med mig
it's like being with me
att för att få vyer som denna,
that to get views like this,
jag är oftast i en skylift
and I'm usually in a cherry picker
12-18 timmar utan avbrott
12-18 hours, non-stop
is I love to people-watch.
att jag älskar att titta på människor.
in the house to have.
läktarplats som finns.
creating these photographs.
när jag skapar dessa foton.
and the location,
för platsen och vyn,
var dagen börjar och natten slutar.
and night ends.
av gravitationen.
och plattar ut den till ett enda plan.
compress it into single plane.
of this work is also,
up or down, even diagonally.
upp eller ner, till och med diagonalt.
som ett realtidspussel i mitt huvud.
going on in my mind.
months to complete.
att färdigställa.
när jag kommer upp dit
when I get up there
going to be in the picture,
som kommer att vara i bild,
sunrise or sunset -- no control.
en grym soluppgång eller solnedgång.
and everything remained the same,
och allt hållit sig likadant,
vem som är med och inte med,
over a month of editing
under en månads redigering
into the master plate.
these two very discordant worlds.
mellan dessa två motstridiga världar.
important influence in all my work
i allt mitt arbete
beundrat Albert Bierstadt,
of Albert Bierstadt,
that I did on the National Parks.
jag nyligen gjorde i nationalparkerna.
I created of Yosemite.
jag skapade av Yosemite.
of the 2016 January issue
på januari 2016-utgåvan
30 hours in this picture.
för den här bilden.
på kanten av en klippa,
och månskenet när det förändrades,
and the moonlight as it transitions,
of time throughout the landscape.
över landskapet.
the magical moments of humanity
mänsklighetens magiska ögonblick
av Bierstadts målning i fickan.
of Bierstadt's painting in my pocket.
to rise in the valley,
with excitement
av upphetsning,
som Bierstadt hade
exact same lighting
av allt som jag älskar
the things I love
det handlar om arkitektur,
and, especially, history.
och i synnerhet, historia.
de mest historiska ögonblick
of Barack Obama.
för president Barack Obama 2013.
waiting with the children,
when I create photographs like this.
när jag skapar bilder som denna.
up in the air
shifted our weight,
flyttade på oss,
1,800 in this picture,
things doing this work.
otroliga saker genom detta arbete.
are patience
like New York from above,
som New York från ovan,
in cars anymore.
the energy of New York,
to really capture that.
är en början till att fånga den.
I would checkerboard time.
skulle tiden vara ett schackbräde.
it's actually day.
wrap our heads around.
begin to put a face on time.
börjar ge tiden ett ansikte.
metaphysical visual reality.
metafysisk visuell verklighet.
looking at a place,
med att titta på en plats,
på ett lite annat sätt
a little differently
with our camera,
som inte ens såg på Sacré-Coeur.
not even look at Sacré-Coeur.
av att ha den som bakgrund.
in using it as a backdrop.
extraordinary example,
extraordinärt exempel,
what we think the human experience is
vad vi tror att mänsklig upplevelse är
is evolving into.
become more important
för mig personligen:
for me personally:
Park in Tanzania.
Serengeti, i Tanzania.
in the middle of the Seronera,
the peak migration
den största mångfalden av djur.
the most diverse range of animals.
during the peak migration,
were drawn to the water.
the same way it was behaving,
vara som det var,
to capture something unique.
att fånga något helt unikt.
6 meter upp i luften.
18 feet in the air.
som delade på resursen vatten.
share a single resource called water.
is supposed to have wars over
tros komma att kriga om
grunted at each other.
åt varandra en enda gång.
that we humans don't.
som vi människor inte gör.
is really a new way of seeing,
egentligen är ett nytt sätt att se,
within a photograph.
along with photography,
tillsammans med fotograferingen,
a deeper meaning of time and memory,
en djupare mening av tid och minnen,
of untold stories,
av oberättade historier,
till vår värld.
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