Stephen Wilkes: The passing of time, caught in a single photo
Stephen Wilkes: Plynutie času zachytené v jedinej fotografii
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
ako zaznamenávanie jednotlivých okamihov
represents a tangible piece
reprezentuje hmatateľný kúsok
than one moment in a photograph?
zachytiť viac ako len jeden okamih?
could actually collapse time,
of the day and the night
called "Day to Night"
s názvom „Zo dňa do noci“
iconic locations,
ikonických miest,
our collective memory.
súčasťou našej spoločnej pamäte.
and I never move.
of humanity and light as time passes.
ľudskosti a svetla v čase.
from 15 to 30 hours
of the day and night.
momenty dňa a noci.
into one single photograph,
do jedinej fotografie,
journey with time.
našu vedomú cestu časom.
early morning rowers
v skoré ráno
the romance of the City of Light.
romantiku tohto mesta svetiel.
from 50 feet in the air,
vo výške 15 metrov
in this photograph
ktorú v týchto fotografiách vidíte
of going to a place like Venice
návštevy miesta ako Benátky
a specific event.
počas špecifických udalostí.
the historical Regata,
historickú Regatu,
taking place since 1498.
opakovane od roku 1498.
look exactly as they did then.
presne tak ako kedysi.
want you guys to understand is:
ktorý chcem aby ste pochopili:
throughout the day and the night.
počas dňa a noci.
of magical moments.
is the fear of just missing one of them.
že čo len jeden z nich zmeškám.
to create a panoramic photograph
objednal panoramatickú fotografiu
film Romeo + Juliet.
od Baza Luhrmanna.
it's a square.
že je to námestie.
a panoramic was to shoot a collage
panoramatický snímok
embracing.
Claire Danes v objatí.
actually reflecting in it.
pre tento jeden obrázok pobozkať?“
to my studio in New York,
do môjho študia v New Yorku,
"Wow, this is so cool!
„Wow, toto je skvelé!
stayed with me for 13 years
ďalších 13 rokov
has caught up to my dreams.
dohnala moje sny.
of the Santa Monica Pier, Day to Night.
zo dňa do noci.
it's like being with me
that to get views like this,
že získať takéto pohľady vyžaduje,
and I'm usually in a cherry picker
a tak som väčšinou na zdvíhacej plošine
12-18 hours, non-stop
12 - 18 hodín, nonstop
is I love to people-watch.
že milujem pozorovať ľudí.
in the house to have.
to najlepšie miesto, aké môžete mať.
creating these photographs.
tvorím tieto fotografie.
and the location,
and night ends.
začína deň a končí noc.
compress it into single plane.
stlačím ju do jedinej úrovne.
tejto práce je to,
of this work is also,
časový vektro sa mení:
up or down, even diagonally.
zhora dole alebo diagonálne.
going on in my mind.
práve prebiehajúce puzzle.
majstrovským dielom.
months to complete.
kým ho dokončím.
when I get up there
keď výjdem hore a fotím.
going to be in the picture,
kto bude na fotografii,
alebo západ slnka.
sunrise or sunset -- no control.
and everything remained the same,
a všetko ostalo nezmenené
na fotke a kto nie
over a month of editing
ktoré som vybral počas mesiaca editovania
into the master plate.
tohto majstrovského diela.
these two very discordant worlds.
týmito dvomi veľmi protichodnými svetmi.
important influence in all my work
vždy veľký vplyv
of Albert Bierstadt,
Alberta Bierstadta,
that I did on the National Parks.
ktorú som robil v národných parkoch.
I created of Yosemite.
ktorú som vytvoril.
of the 2016 January issue
30 hours in this picture.
viac ako 30 hodín.
and the moonlight as it transitions,
of time throughout the landscape.
the magical moments of humanity
magických ľudských momentov
of Bierstadt's painting in my pocket.
maľby vo vrecku.
to rise in the valley,
with excitement
na maľbu a uvedomil si,
exact same lighting
ako Bierstadt pred 100 rokmi.“
je o mnohých veciach,
the things I love
ktoré mám rád
and, especially, history.
a obzvlášť o histórii.
momentov, ktoré som bol schopný zachytiť,
Baraka Obamu v roku 2013.
of Barack Obama.
waiting with the children,
when I create photographs like this.
je tam množstvo náročných aspektov.
up in the air
shifted our weight,
alebo môj asistent pohol,
1,800 in this picture,
nohy na tie isté pozície,
things doing this work.
množsvto výnimočných vecí.
are patience
like New York from above,
z vtáčej perspektívy,
in cars anymore.
the energy of New York,
to really capture that.
I would checkerboard time.
it's actually day.
wrap our heads around.
begin to put a face on time.
metaphysical visual reality.
virtuálnu realitu.
looking at a place,
a little differently
with our camera,
spravili fotku a odišli.
nepozreli na Sacré-Coeur.
not even look at Sacré-Coeur.
in using it as a backdrop.
extraordinary example,
what we think the human experience is
o ľudskej skúsenosti myslíme
is evolving into.
become more important
for me personally:
výnimočný význam:
Park in Tanzania.
in the middle of the Seronera,
the peak migration
the most diverse range of animals.
množstvo rôznych zvierat.
during the peak migration,
were drawn to the water.
the same way it was behaving,
také ako bolo
to capture something unique.
zachytiť niečo jedinečné.
18 feet in the air.
share a single resource called water.
is supposed to have wars over
budeme viesť vojny
grunted at each other.
ani raz nezavrčali.
that we humans don't.
čo my ľudia nechápeme.
is really a new way of seeing,
je skutočne nový spôsob videnia,
within a photograph.
kontinua vo fotografii.
along with photography,
a deeper meaning of time and memory,
hlbší zmysel času a spomienok
of untold stories,
nevypovedaných príbehov,
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