The passing of time, caught in a single photo | Stephen Wilkes

Photographer Stephen Wilkes crafts stunning compositions of landscapes as they transition from day to night, exploring the space-time continuum within a two-dimensional still photograph. Journey with him to iconic locations like the Tournelle Bridge in Paris, El Capitan in Yosemite National Park and a life-giving watering hole in heart of the Serengeti in this tour of his art and process.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more.
Find closed captions and translated subtitles in many languages at www.ted.com/translate
Follow TED news on Twitter: / tednews
Like TED on Facebook: / ted
Subscribe to our channel: / tedtalksdirector

[@ChiefGrizzlylive]

I didn't know George Clooney was so passionate about taking pictures

[@marialedeviaje]

Chief Grizzly hahahaha I’m dead

[@Aleks-ep3sd]

So basicly photo merging in Photoshop. It has been done many times before. I can't see how this is revolutionary. But it does look amazing, I must admit.

[@notsarahatall3164]

But its like Einstein, you know? ;)

[@Deargodwhat]

This needs to go to top comments. This is not his idea, he is just copying a concept. His idea to copy a concept, at least he has that. It's a string of photos put together in different cycles on the same location and frame. I understand it perfectly. Yet people wanna bullshit defend this guy pretending they know more while missing out on the fact this is not a new concept nor a new method.

[@3rodox]

bruh, you forgot about bending the space time fabrics.

[@rominafiona4592]

I suggest you guys to watch it again, and fully understand the deeper meaning of it. Rather than judging someones work, leaving negative comments without fully understanding it

[@derPetunientopf]

Well he did not invent the concept but his execution is on a whole new level.

[@TaranVH]

Me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me.

[@Professionalyoutubeviewer]

"The act of sharing has suddenly become more important than the experience itself" This sentence perfeclt embodies the major problem I have with society today

[@DonnaBrooks]

I found that observation disturbing, too.

[@PowerPot]

Yet he loves to share his work while comparing himself to Einstein. lel

[@qwerty74]

The guy's just telling his story. It's totally fine.

[@iMoha46]

man this guy must love photoshop

[@robthehitmanrude]

he loves himself more...

[@GALENGODIS]

He's probably paying someone else for the photoshop part, since he's not talking about it....

[@kintrbr]

I, I did, I have, mine, my work, my photo, my, my, my... ego level over 9000

[@michellemcreynolds7413]

YUP!

[@TheTomcheese]

How else can he explain his mind?

[@Jerome...]

But you don't understand! His photos are like metaphysical, before him we couldn't understand time, this is SO MUCH MORE than just time lapse on paper. Human existence, new way of seeing, preaching about water, NEW WAY OF SEEING, EXPLORING THE SPACE TIME CONTINUUM, THIS GUY IS THE GREATEST GENIUS EVER!!!!

[@razrshrk4466]

+Jerome L. 👍

[@notsarahatall3164]

He talked about his pictures while talking about Einstein. Come on, its fucking photoshop and a great camera lense.

[@LoveAndPeaceOccurs]

Thank You Stephen Wilkes ... for being a, " ... relentless collector of magical moments." Beautiful! Love & Peace to All

[@Jerome...]

Nice idea and pictures, but the talk is (quite) a bit pretentious. 8:21 and why are people clapping?

[@Gonso96]

Maybe because he had to remain still when he clicked the shutter, or because he had to to tons of pictures. The results are quite good, but I agree, pretentious is the word.

[@arjen4120]

+LinusDickTips so you dont think these pictures look cool?

[@halomexx2581]

People are clapping because they want him to end his presentation.

[@samimas4343]

+RezoJaco i can hear through his pretentious tone, but i don't think he is a bad guy. i think he is just so amazed and excited at how marvelous his work is. he is overly proud i can see that but i think it is because he is just happy and overwhelmed with his technique not just showing up kind of way

[@bebox7]

I saw these on PetaPixel a while back and really admired the work. It's a shame he is so pretentious as it's a clever idea and obviously very well executed but in the end it is just talent, time, patience and great PS skills - not sure why we need to hear about Einstein and all the other garbage he went on with.

[@jwelda1]

Great photography. Could have done without the cheesy sales pitch.

[@benskelly1217]

EXACTLY.

[@sgalley22]

not always

[@quikdrawcollins1861]

Stephen, your work is beautiful.

[@whatthefunction9140]

*I don't think this qualifies invoking Einstein...*

[@notsarahatall3164]

EXACTLY.

[@whatthefunction9140]

I can tell this guy is about as humble as trump after a winning touchdown.

[@AndrewEdling]

I was waiting for him to invoke 9/11

[@johnsmith4630]

yep

[@johnsmith4630]

yep

[@DanielSMatthews]

It is good to see images of such high technical and aesthetic quality built on a an equally strong and original conceptual foundation, this is "Art".

[@twelvesmylimit]

Absolutely amazing and what a great speaker. He seems a sensitive soul.

[@MyraHart1943]

I've been a follower and fan of Wilkes for a little over a year. His passion for history and humanity mirrors my own and makes me love him even more!

[@QuickTalks]

"The act of sharing has suddenly become more important than the experience itself"

[@Mustangs3.7]

Too bad he didn't name it From Dusk Till Dawn.

[@FrogLehane]

So many people in the comments that felt their egos being hurt by some random guy in a video. But it's about the guy in the video having a huge ego, not them, no-no...

[@ameyamarathe7775]

What a beautiful piece of art ! It took so much efforts to create this art. And all I can see in the comments that people are critisizing him for how he is boasting about it . C'mon. Be a sport and appreciate his work . Finding Negativity in everything is the easiest thing

[@thequickbrownfox7289]

"The act of sharing has suddenly become more important than the experience itself." So says the man that makes his presentation more about himself his experience.

[@lumetaa]

amazing, magical photos .. great marriage between technology and concept and message to humanity

[@thelastnatural3349]

That last picture is a amazing! Especially in a time like this, I think if we are to survive we need to learn to share! I've always given what I could but the majority in this world have a fear of doing the same.

[@casualcadaver]

I kinda like his more hands on approach with real photographs and gluing them together more, he should do more of that.

[@farzamdxb9678]

Amazing photos! well done! 👍

[@Games4Dummies]

unbelievably beautiful

[@mayapapayuh]

I can't possibly articulate the amount I love this.

[@FenderBridge]

Damn dude, tough crowd.

[@HipHopMovieNews]

This was beautiful.

[@dude2260]

act of sharing has become more important than the experience itself ,, well said ..

[@feryutomo4680]

he looks really patient in terms of working on his concept photos, waiting a whole day to capture the photos which he need for his puzzle to combine, also the collage from 250 images, damn, he really enjoys it 100%

[@MegaHoisin]

Just wonderful.

[@HienDuong-pu5fm]

Precious pictures.... He's so cool

[@r.b.5659]

amazing. love the way the photographs look

[@Ctaylormakeup]

Beautiful Work!! Very Inspiring!!!

[@aquilestadeu]

Brilliant, surreal, intriguing...thanks for sharing.

[@Spiralsmile]

If you don't understand why this is so profound please just don't leave comments :) I promise, it's deeper than you understand. Beautiful, loved this and sharing it with some people that will be fascinated as well

[@johnsmith4630]

it is great, no doubt, but he is talking about the space time continuum and metaphysics

[@Professionalyoutubeviewer]

True

[@DonnaBrooks]

Yes. Because he is capturing the 4th dimension and presenting it to us in 2 dimensions.

[@rominafiona4592]

I agree. I hate how some people here are leaving negative comments over something that they dont even fully understand. They keep saying its just about photo merging/photoshop but it isnt just about that.

[@johnsmith4630]

Romina Fiona the concept is profound and his execution excellent, he could let his work speak for itself rather that incanting metaphysics

[@higherlovepriestess]

Obsessed with this!

[@1996DoctorD]

The message at the end is great!

[@melwebb64]

WOW! Love this!!

[@Rebel_Guy]

This is quite amazing!

[@rubenssiomusic]

Thank you so much!

[@Gippo50]

Stunning Photography

[@jd49631]

I love the Serengeti picture.

[@lavanyakapoor7981]

Gave me some perspective! Great work!

[@aquelaquelaquelaquel]

This was so inspiring!!

[@pd2210]

INCREDIBLE! GREAT JOB TED!

[@nargizadenizov241]

WoWwww ! Amazing!

[@machoseverywhere3723]

Wow just wow

[@luliu7845]

ASTONISHING

[@sujithcheeral]

Wonderful works ...

[@aqrifyln6719]

One of those art TED talks that are actually novel (to most) and interesting.

[@liamdavis2387]

Dude fuckin adores himself

[@Newtube_Channel]

It's unreal and so it feels unbelievable.

[@chaozhang4128]

great work!

[@concretecloud7874]

The photo at 1:27 is breathtaking. I would pay an violent amount of money for it

[@leeniblib3069]

wonderful ❤

[@branmanss]

The oval at OSU would be a pretty cool place to do this. With the city to the south, high street to the east and library to the west the transition would be awesome.

[@dima5467]

So this guy just Photoshops a days worth of images together? It's cool and all and I see he is passionate about it, but why is this any different from other photography?

[@supashawn-revamp6560]

I'm pretty sure it's not that simple

[@Yarrsi]

You NEED to know physics and stuff for this! This guy is an absolute GENIUS in Space-Time-Continuum-Exploration, like no one ever before, and he also knows how to use a Camera and Photoshop and he's exploring new ways to life and new ways to see the world, like no one has seen it before. Just photoshops the pictures... DARE YOU! :D

[@Destro7000]

It kind of is. He's just bought a lot of expensive kit, but the making of that sort of photo, I've done it before for a lot less. I think he's exaggerating his amazingness.

[@3rodox]

He's bending the space/time continuum silly!

[@Destro7000]

jsorro Oh! Yes, of course. My mistake sorry xD

[@GaryStockton]

I don't understand why comments are so focused on his ego etc. You have to hand it to him. He created some amazing pictures and explained how he did it.

[@awsomeguy001]

Thank you

[@MyLifeinPieces]

Loved the last part about animals!

[@MsSlayerful]

amazing...i would LOOOOOOVE his job!!!

[@qixianjun]

amazing

[@mithunh638]

Nice work..

[@MatthewDeGrand]

My dream is to make this possible for the city I currently reside in. Thank you for reaffirming the ability is there to turn the dream into reality.

[@flomeli82]

1,800 photos to make one And still one of Hansel Adams' photos stand out more.

[@AnteBrkic]

I once wanted to test the long exposure on my new camera so I put it on the bench in front of some building at night and that changed my life in a way that I could never imagine. I figured that even though the passing of time and the time itself depends on the speed of the observer relative to the object, the picture itself happened to be of a poor quality because it was a cheap camera. Thank you.

[@keenancantskate9004]

I live there

[@florisr9]

You live in a theater?

[@michellemcreynolds7413]

lol

[@miniatureswithjanelle]

+Floris R Who doesn't?

[@Isaxus12]

I live here

[@3rdJose]

+Isaxus I live everywhere

[@akshayjain2676]

Awesome

[@psychedelicdreamer986]

Wow, amazing!

[@krookimuss]

Neat!

[@oldhollywoodangels]

So interesting

[@mirzashafi]

man he is unbelievable 😲😲😲

[@BereniceGJ]

Es como si hubiera fotografiado la experiencia de haber estado ahí, reduciéndola quizá en cuanto a significado pero aumentando su amplitud. Me recuerda a lo que los arquitectos y urbanistas visualizamos al proyectar: todo lo que puede pasar en el lugar. Como los cuadros del renacimiento que pintorescamente incluían muy diversas situaciones al mismo tiempo. Una condensación objetiva de momentos, para inspeccionarse, más que observarse, detenidamente en vivo pedazo a pedazo en una impresión de piso a techo y hacerse una impresión propia de haber estado ahí.

[@chadoftoons]

Does he need to be there to photograph theese pictures? He could set something up to shoot at certain times where he would guess people do something

[@BoldAndSpicy]

But then he wouldn't be suffering for his art

[@notsarahatall3164]

Lol XD

[@popcornpretzel6720]

Nobody else reply.

[@SoshiNine9]

He'd probably need to be around to make sure the setting are correct and adjusted as the day turns to night. I doubt the guy is the type to shoot on auto all day and night.

[@derPetunientopf]

@@SoshiNine9 Finally somebody who knows something about photograpy.

[@JamieDigitalArt]

lol the "time vector"

[@qristv1912]

pretty cool

[@nicholas45867]

Watch this with the sound off

[@notsarahatall3164]

Seems like one can't create something without comparing it to Einstein and choking on ones own ego.

[@Leo-hk6qg]

Yup, he even filmed himself taking pictures.

[@69Solo]

Sharing is caring. He shared his hobby with us. Well I found it inspiring. He is comparing the experience with Einstein is because he felt it that way. For him the sheet or the empty pixel is the space fabric, where he can portray time. I didn't see ego in him, I saw the art in him. Perception is the key!

[@DonnaBrooks]

That's not his "hobby". That's his profession.

[@69Solo]

Donna Brooks He turned his hobby into his profession. He is doing what he likes and he has shared with us. :') What I have to say from my personal point of view is. To experience this kind of details about nature, where darkness meets light. 1 has to be on the higher grounds, like plane, etc. Not everyone can afford it, plus if they do not necessarily a person would be flying on right time. ^^

[@PierreElRey]

I once shat, just like Einstein did.

[@thebrokegirl]

Nice.

[@janeholst6992]

This revolutionary guy can trick people who have not contact with photography and Photoshop but not those who are photographers. All what he does is choosing the panorama settings, standing whole day in a crane and blend pics together on Photoshop. Why is he talking about Einstein's parallel universes and wormholes? uuhm ok..

[@reiryghts639]

Holy it look nice :D

[@m8oneguy913]

Its cool.

[@UnauthorizedExpression]

I wonder how many times he rehearsed this speech to keep from crying in the middle of it.

[@Dookie6891]

It is quite remarkable, and I even see the justifications in relativity, but I think the attempt to correlate or introduce a theoretical framework to something so simple as a dynamic moment does it disservice and devalues it. This is one of those things where you just have to be humble and say "look."

[@liamdavis2387]

"New Yawhk is so great"

[@dawhateverguy2842]

Nice

[@Overonator]

I have seen national geographic specials where animals kill each other around the watering hole, they don't seem to understand that they should be sharing the water. This presenter must have seen some far more enlightened animals than the ones I saw. Regardless, those pictures are really cool.

[@aprad]

I was waiting for him to say, "I'm not photographer, I'm an artist and people are my brushes and the world is my canvas" Blehh

[@Pickledshoes7]

I think that it was very fitting for the Inception billboard in the Time Square picture

[@superstrong1744]

Neat idea, but why make some of the people in the photos look blurry, it kind of looks crappy.

[@MrGrapha]

nice

[@gram_o_phone]

This guy reminds me the joke: Edison is dead, Einstein passed as well. We remain less and less, humble geniuses.

[@nehasara4010]

DON'T JUDGE HIM IDJITS!!! what i don't understand is why people are hating this person? Yes he is mentioning himself alot but that is because why would someone not mention that this amazing work is done by themself..plus the people who are saying that he's being egoistic should know that alot of people are like that one way or another and not all people can be saint-ish. Also this is not a simple photoshop.If your saying that "oh he just simply photoshoped all the pics together" then know this that simple photoshop can NOT blend into one another.And from ehat he is telling,he had to be there at the SAME place for more than 8 hours..most of you can even stand for more than an hour or so unless it's at a place ehich has sale or somewhere where you can eat.. SO DONT JUDGE..

[@anonym6891]

Some photographers are like DJs. I guess you know what I mean.

[@1314520Joanna]

"exploring space time continuum (4D) with a 2D still photography" - you better be my physics prof so I can take photo all day

[@canturgan]

Interesting but I prefer the Gregory Crewdson type of large scale photography. I like the watering hole picture even though it's more like a painting.

[@nikolasga5423]

i would make a winter to summer photo.

[@Yareyous]

Stephen Wilkes booth

[@Destro7000]

"But what if you could capture more than 1 moment in a photograph!?" 0:30 - You CAN, becuse you DO, ever heard of the speed of light? Every photograph lies, it is not at all the capturing of one moment, especially when the distance contained within the photo grows. As the distance between lens and subject increases, the time light takes to travel to get to the lens gets longer, and varies between distances. The picture of the people in front of the canyons there - they are nearer to the camera and so are closer to the present that the camera experiences. A fly passing very close to the lens in this shot would be far nearer to capturing the present. Those distant canyons though, just like stars, are a snapshot of the past, before the photograph was taken. Every photograph is a snapshot of many different times, not one present moment. Does this man understand the speed of light? This guy is an artist and not s scientist, yet he keeps invoking Einstein and Spacetime and doodling on diagrams meant to represent wormholes...so much Pseudoscience in one video. Stoppit! The guy needs to do some serious science reading.