Stephen Wilkes: The passing of time, caught in a single photo
Stephen Wilkes: A passagem do tempo, captada numa única 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
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
que contam histórias.
as the recording of a single moment
como o registo de um momento único
represents a tangible piece
representa um pedaço tangível
than one moment in a photograph?
mais de um momento numa fotografia?
could actually collapse time,
pudesse destruir o tempo,
of the day and the night
do dia e da noite,
called "Day to Night"
"Do Dia até à Noite"
a forma como vemos o mundo.
iconic locations,
por fotografar locais emblemáticos,
our collective memory.
a nossa memória coletiva.
and I never move.
privilegiado, e não me mexo.
of humanity and light as time passes.
das pessoas e da luz ao longo do tempo.
from 15 to 30 hours
entre 15 a 30 horas
of the day and night.
da noite e do dia.
into one single photograph,
numa única fotografia,
journey with time.
consciente pelo tempo.
a partir da ponte Tournelle.
early morning rowers
de manhã cedo
Notre Dame, à noite.
the romance of the City of Light.
o romantismo da Cidade Luz.
mas fotografo a 15 metros de altura.
from 50 feet in the air,
in this photograph
sempre na História.
of going to a place like Venice
de ir a um lugar como Veneza
a specific event.
um acontecimento específico.
the historical Regata,
a histórica Regata,
taking place since 1498.
que se realiza desde 1498.
look exactly as they did then.
como eram nessa época.
want you guys to understand is:
que é preciso que percebam,
de aceleração do tempo.
throughout the day and the night.
ao longo do dia e da noite
of magical moments.
de momentos mágicos.
is the fear of just missing one of them.
é o medo de perder um desses momentos.
to create a panoramic photograph
de criar uma fotografia panorâmica
film Romeo + Juliet.
do diretor Baz Luhrmann.
it's a square.
que era um quadrado.
a panoramic was to shoot a collage
uma panorâmica seria fazer uma colagem
embracing.
abraçados.
actually reflecting in it.
a ser refletidos no espelho.
perguntei-lhes:
apenas para esta foto?"
to my studio in New York,
em Nova Iorque
dei um passo atrás e pensei:
"Wow, this is so cool!
stayed with me for 13 years
durante 13 anos
has caught up to my dreams.
veio ao encontro dos meus sonhos.
of the Santa Monica Pier, Day to Night.
do pontão de Santa Mónica,
it's like being with me
de como é acompanhar-me
that to get views like this,
para obter vistas como esta
and I'm usually in a cherry picker
em geral numa grua
12-18 hours, non-stop
12 a 18 horas, sem parar
is I love to people-watch.
é que eu gosto de observar as pessoas.
quando vos digo
in the house to have.
que se pode desejar.
creating these photographs.
ao criar estas fotografias.
and the location,
quanto à vista e ao local,
and night ends.
quando começa o dia e acaba a noite.
compress it into single plane.
estico-o, comprimo-o num simples plano.
of this work is also,
up or down, even diagonally.
de cima para baixo, ou mesmo na diagonal.
going on in my mind.
que faço na minha cabeça.
com base no tempo.
months to complete.
when I get up there
quando estou lá em cima
going to be in the picture,
ou um pôr-do-sol espetacular
sunrise or sunset -- no control.
and everything remained the same,
e tudo se manteve na mesma,
over a month of editing
que consegui, ao fim de um mês de edição
into the master plate.
numa chapa mestra.
these two very discordant worlds.
entre esses dois mundos muito discordantes.
important influence in all my work
em todo o meu trabalho
of Albert Bierstadt,
de Albert Bierstadt,
that I did on the National Parks.
que fiz nos parques nacionais.
I created of Yosemite.
of the 2016 January issue
da edição de janeiro de 2016
30 hours in this picture.
para esta imagem.
and the moonlight as it transitions,
enquanto o tempo passava.
of time throughout the landscape.
por toda a paisagem.
the magical moments of humanity
ver os momentos mágicos das pessoas
of Bierstadt's painting in my pocket.
da pintura de Bierstadt.
to rise in the valley,
a erguer-se no vale,
with excitement
exact same lighting
a mesma luz que Bierstadt teve
tem a ver com todas as coisas,
the things I love
de todas as coisas de que eu gosto
que é a fotografia.
and, especially, history.
e, em especial, a História.
of Barack Obama.
do presidente Barack Obama.
waiting with the children,
when I create photographs like this.
quando criamos fotografias como esta.
up in the air
a 15 metros de altura,
shifted our weight,
nos movíamos,
1,800 in this picture,
para esta imagem
com fita adesiva
things doing this work.
a fazer este trabalho.
are patience
like New York from above,
como Nova Iorque, lá do alto,
in cars anymore.
com pessoas em carros.
cardume de peixes,
the energy of New York,
a energia de Nova Iorque,
to really capture that.
começa, de facto, a captar isso.
para o meu trabalho,
é um desfiladeiro,
I would checkerboard time.
num tabuleiro de xadrez.
e só onde houver sol, é que é dia.
it's actually day.
wrap our heads around.
begin to put a face on time.
começam a dar rosto ao tempo.
metaphysical visual reality.
realidade visual metafísica
looking at a place,
a olhar para o mesmo local,
a little differently
com a máquina,
with our camera,
nos viéssemos embora.
todas estas pessoas,
not even look at Sacré-Coeur.
para o Sacré-Coeur.
in using it as a backdrop.
em usá-lo como pano de fundo.
extraordinary example,
perfeitamente extraordinário,
what we think the human experience is
o que pensamos que é a experiência humana
a experiência humana.
is evolving into.
become more important
passou a ser mais importante
for me personally:
tem um significado muito especial.
Park in Tanzania.
na Tanzânia.
in the middle of the Seronera,
no meio da Seronera,
the peak migration
durante o pico da migração
the most diverse range of animals.
a maior diversidade de animais.
during the peak migration,
durante o pico da migração,
were drawn to the water.
dirigiam-se para a água.
the same way it was behaving,
da mesma maneira
de captar qualquer coisa de único.
to capture something unique.
durante o dia das fotos.
18 feet in the air.
share a single resource called water.
partilhar um único recurso chamado água.
is supposed to have wars over
vai provocar guerras da Humanidade
grunted at each other.
grunhiam uns para os outros.
that we humans don't.
que os homens não percebem.
é, de facto, uma nova forma de ver,
is really a new way of seeing,
dentro duma fotografia.
within a photograph.
along with photography,
juntamente com a fotografia,
a deeper meaning of time and memory,
de tempo e memória,
of untold stories,
de histórias desconhecidas,
para o nosso mundo.
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