[Music]
I consider myself a birder now but
believe me when I started this project I
was the father’s thing from a birder my
name is Steven Wilks I’m a photographer
and a fine artist I’ve been taking
pictures for most of my adult life my
first photographs were actually taken
through a microscope when I was about 12
years old I was very interested in
science when I take pictures that’s my
language and if I can touch you with my
language if I can share something with
you
that will inspire you to say wow I’ve
never seen anything like that I had no
idea that the world looked like this
then you begin to understand why we need
to save this thing so date and I came to
me kind of in a unique way I was asked
by Life Magazine in 1996 to photograph
the cast and crew of Baz Luhrmann’s film
Romeo and Juliet and at the time David
Hockney was doing these photo collages
and I was very inspired I thought wow
maybe I’ll do a collage and so I ended
up taking 250 images of the entire cast
and crew and in the center of the
photograph
I’ve got Claire Danes and Leonardo
embracing and then as my camera panned
to the right I’m taking multiple images
I see this huge mirror on the set and in
the mirror is Claire Danes and Leonardo
reflecting and for that one photograph I
asked them to kiss
and then I came back to New York and
spent two weeks putting this massive
image together by hand and when I looked
at it on my table I was like oh my god
this is crazy
I’m changing time in a photograph and
that concept stayed with me for almost
16 years until technology now allows me
to do it in a way that’s seamless the
first photograph I did day to night was
the High Line I looked at the High Line
and I loved the fact that it was cool
during lunchtime but it was really kind
of spooky at night and I remember having
this conversation with a photo editor
saying you know be really kind of cool
if I could shoot north-to-south day
tonight in one picture she was like are
you kidding me is that even possible
and I didn’t know I thought what we
could try and that’s really where day
tonight came about why does it still
photograph only have to be a single
moment why can’t we take multiple
moments hundreds of moments and layer
them into one single image day to night
started with me photographing New York
City it evolved from that into shooting
the national parks using people as a
narrative
and then it went from the national parks
to the Serengeti
that’s the first time that I didn’t have
a human narrative but I had a wildlife
narrative in my picture
[Music]
but doing Birds was a whole nother
ballgame if I’m shooting the Brooklyn
Bridge I take a highway and I’m there
when you go to a place like bass Rock
you gotta fly to Edinburgh Scotland
drive through a small town take a boat
with nine cases of equipment hike up 122
steps treacherous steps and there’s
guano everywhere and you’re slipping and
sliding you can’t move very quickly you
have to be very deliberate the way you
walk to do these pictures one of the
greatest challenges is really getting an
intimacy well in order to do that I have
to become one of them I am within a foot
or two of their nests that’s a very very
challenging place to be because these
species in particular the northern
Gannet are very very aggressive they
like to you know attack you if you get
too close to their babies understandable
and so we had some funny moments he died
a good man
killed on assignment while trying to
film day to night of damage left and a
Scottish island forever
in fact it happened a funnel
we were in steeple Jason we had this
incredible morning where I had this
spectacular rainbow rise out of the
ocean and literally arc into my frame
it’s so insanely beautiful and it’s so
surreal that I think my assistant Chris
has a little video he goes just so
people believe this actually happened
this is actually happening right now
you’re just like oh my god
each one of these pictures there were
moments I was seeing something that was
so extraordinary I was so overwhelmed is
really that I couldn’t even speak or or
function it was that incredible
it happened in Nebraska when ball the
sandhill cranes came in at sunset
I understand now why I’m a birder and
why people do this and why they spend
their lives you know following these
species because it is one of the most
extraordinary things I’ve ever witnessed
[Music]
you
[Music]
you
[Music]
I consider myself a birder now but
believe me when I started this project I
was the father’s thing from a birder my
name is Steven Wilks I’m a photographer
and a fine artist I’ve been taking
pictures for most of my adult life my
first photographs were actually taken
through a microscope when I was about 12
years old I was very interested in
science when I take pictures that’s my
language and if I can touch you with my
language if I can share something with
you
that will inspire you to say wow I’ve
never seen anything like that I had no
idea that the world looked like this
then you begin to understand why we need
to save this thing so date and I came to
me kind of in a unique way I was asked
by Life Magazine in 1996 to photograph
the cast and crew of Baz Luhrmann’s film
Romeo and Juliet and at the time David
Hockney was doing these photo collages
and I was very inspired I thought wow
maybe I’ll do a collage and so I ended
up taking 250 images of the entire cast
and crew and in the center of the
photograph
I’ve got Claire Danes and Leonardo
embracing and then as my camera panned
to the right I’m taking multiple images
I see this huge mirror on the set and in
the mirror is Claire Danes and Leonardo
reflecting and for that one photograph I
asked them to kiss
and then I came back to New York and
spent two weeks putting this massive
image together by hand and when I looked
at it on my table I was like oh my god
this is crazy
I’m changing time in a photograph and
that concept stayed with me for almost
16 years until technology now allows me
to do it in a way that’s seamless the
first photograph I did day to night was
the High Line I looked at the High Line
and I loved the fact that it was cool
during lunchtime but it was really kind
of spooky at night and I remember having
this conversation with a photo editor
saying you know be really kind of cool
if I could shoot north-to-south day
tonight in one picture she was like are
you kidding me is that even possible
and I didn’t know I thought what we
could try and that’s really where day
tonight came about why does it still
photograph only have to be a single
moment why can’t we take multiple
moments hundreds of moments and layer
them into one single image day to night
started with me photographing New York
City it evolved from that into shooting
the national parks using people as a
narrative
and then it went from the national parks
to the Serengeti
that’s the first time that I didn’t have
a human narrative but I had a wildlife
narrative in my picture
[Music]
but doing Birds was a whole nother
ballgame if I’m shooting the Brooklyn
Bridge I take a highway and I’m there
when you go to a place like bass Rock
you gotta fly to Edinburgh Scotland
drive through a small town take a boat
with nine cases of equipment hike up 122
steps treacherous steps and there’s
guano everywhere and you’re slipping and
sliding you can’t move very quickly you
have to be very deliberate the way you
walk to do these pictures one of the
greatest challenges is really getting an
intimacy well in order to do that I have
to become one of them I am within a foot
or two of their nests that’s a very very
challenging place to be because these
species in particular the northern
Gannet are very very aggressive they
like to you know attack you if you get
too close to their babies understandable
and so we had some funny moments he died
a good man
killed on assignment while trying to
film day to night of damage left and a
Scottish island forever
in fact it happened a funnel
we were in steeple Jason we had this
incredible morning where I had this
spectacular rainbow rise out of the
ocean and literally arc into my frame
it’s so insanely beautiful and it’s so
surreal that I think my assistant Chris
has a little video he goes just so
people believe this actually happened
this is actually happening right now
you’re just like oh my god
each one of these pictures there were
moments I was seeing something that was
so extraordinary I was so overwhelmed is
really that I couldn’t even speak or or
function it was that incredible
it happened in Nebraska when ball the
sandhill cranes came in at sunset
I understand now why I’m a birder and
why people do this and why they spend
their lives you know following these
species because it is one of the most
extraordinary things I’ve ever witnessed
[Music]
you
[Music]
you
[Music]
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