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Four Seasons, Central Park, Spring, Day to Night, 2024 -
Four Seasons, Central Park, Summer, Day to Night, 2024
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Four Seasons, Central Park, Fall, Day to Night, 2024
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Four Seasons, Central Park, Winter, Day to Night, 2025
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Sandhill Cranes, Rowe Sancturary, Nebraska, Day to Night, 2024
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Grizzly Bears, Chilko Lake, B.C., Day to Night, 2022
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Flat Iron 9/11, NYC, Day to Night, 2010
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Robson Bight, B.C., Day to Night, 2016
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Wrigley Field, Chicago, Day to Night, 2013
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Washington Square Park, NYC, Day to Night, 2009
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Park Avenue, NYC, Day to Night, 2011
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Times Square, NYC, Day to Night, 2010
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View from The Savoy, London, Day to Night, 2013
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Grizzly Bears, Bella Coola, British Columbia, Canada, Day to Night, 2018
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Lesser Flamingos, Lake Bogoria, Kenya, Day to Night, 2017
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Polar Bears, Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, Day to Night, 2019
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Bears Ears National Monument, Utah, Day to Night, 2022
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J Bar L Ranch, Montana, Day to Night, 2022
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Regata Storica, Venice, Day to Night, 2015
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The Great July Melt, Ilulissat, Greenland, Day to Night, 2019
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Rockefeller Center, NYC, Day to Night, 2013
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Wood Bison , Elk Island, Edmonton, CA, Day to Night, 2022
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Northern Mountain Caribou, The Yukon, Canada, Day to Night, 2023
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South Beach, Miami, Day to Night, 2020
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Fagradalsfjall Volcano, Iceland, Day to Night, 2021
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Pont de la Tournelle, Paris, Day to Night, 2013
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Brant Point Lighthouse, Nantucket, Day to Night, 2022
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Varanasi, India, Day to Night, 2016
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Blue Trees, 2021
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Homage to Monet, 2024
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Lake Mohegan Fall Study, 2021
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Spring Study Pink Flowers
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Welfare Room, Bethlehem Steel
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Flywheel, Bethlehem Steel
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Huge Toolshed, Bethlehem Steel
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The Fat Lady Sang, Bethlehem Steel
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Crossing Chutes, Coke Works, Bethlehem Steel
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Stephen Wilkes Brings His Iconic 'Day to Night' Photography to Ketchum
Stephen Wilkes spent 36 hours shooting this image of bears, kayakers and canoers in British ColumbiaKaren Bossick, Eye on Sun Valley, 7 August 2026 -
A day in the life of the land
Photographer Stephen Wilkes blends time to capture day and night in a single frame. Here, he shares the stories behind seven images created in Canada.Christina Wagner, Canadian Geographic, 10 June 2026 -
How Stephen Wilkes’ Day to Night Photos Capture Wildlife In an Entirely Different Way
Jeremy Gray, PetaPixel, 23 November 2025 -
Sea lion image near Vancouver one of National Geographic's Pictures of the Year
The spectacular image is made of many photosBrendan Kergin, Vancouver Is Awesome, 19 November 2025
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Photographic Time Traveler: Stephen Wilkes on His Career and Its Evolution
Lisa Marie Segarra, PetaPixel, 11 January 2024 -
Nat Geo Photographer Offers Three Tips to Improve Your Images
Lisa Marie Segarra, PetaPixel, 8 January 2024 -
Vivid: The World Through Stephen Wilkes' Lens
Jill Johnson Mann, Moffly Media, 1 January 2024 -
8 Time-Lapse Photos Show Cities Like You've Never Seen Them Before
A new book shows New York, Paris, and other cities in both daytime and nighttime, all within one photographKathryn Romeyn, Architectural Digest, 19 September 2023
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The Art of the Personal Project: Stephen Wilkes
ssease, aPhotoEditor, 27 July 2023 -
From Dawn to Dusk and Back Again, Stephen Wilkes Pursues Natural Drama in Remarkably Detailed Panoramas
Kate Mothes, Colossal Magazine, 18 July 2023 -
A Picture Worth A Thousand Hours
World-famous photographer Stephen Wilkes reveals Nantucket like you’ve never seen it before.Robert Cocuzzo, Nantucket Magazine, 30 June 2023 -
Stephen Wilkes’ Stunning “Day to Night” Photography Captures America’s Majestic Landscapes
Niyaz Huseynzade, Freeyork, 22 October 2022
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National Geographic photographer's pictures document effects of climate change
Stephen Wilkes has been photographing national parks for more than 20 years and his newly born granddaughter inspires him to continue bearing witness to how they're affected by climate change.Good Morning America, 23 August 2022 -
How one image captures 21 hours of a volcanic eruption
Photographer Stephen Wilkes documented Iceland's fiery peak as day turned to night, merging 70 photos into one stunning frame.Maya Wei-Haas, National Geographic, 11 November 2021 -
To capture the scope of COVID's toll, this photographer spent 30 hours on one photo
Catie Dull, NPR, 5 October 2021 -
Day to Night: In the Field with Stephen Wilkes
National Museum of Wildlife Art, 24 May 2019
In a world where humanity has become obsessively connected to personal devices, the ability to look profoundly and contemplatively is becoming an endangered human experience. Photographing a single place for up to 36 hours becomes a meditation. It has informed me in a unique way, inspiring deep insights into life’s narrative, and the fragile interaction of
humanity within our natural and constructed world.
-Stephen Wilkes
Stephen Wilkes (b. 1957, New York) is a photographer and National Geographic Explorer known for his innovative fine art, editorial, and commercial work. Since opening his New York studio in 1983, he has become one of America’s most iconic photographers. A 1998 assignment at Ellis Island led to a five-year study of its abandoned medical wards, culminating in Ellis Island: Ghosts of Freedom (2006), one of TIME’s 5 Best Photography Books of the Year. His work helped secure $6 million for the island’s restoration. In 2000, America in Detail, a 52-day cross-country project for Epson, was exhibited nationwide.
Wilkes’ most defining work, Day to Night, began in 2009, capturing cityscapes and landscapes from a fixed vantage point over 30 hours, blending thousands of images into a single frame. Day to Night is a 14 year personal journey to capture fundamental elements of our world through the hourglass of a single day. It is a synthesis of art and science, an exploration of time, memory, and history through the 24-hour rhythms of our daily lives. The series, featured on CBS Sunday Morning and in major media, expanded with National Geographic Society grants. It has been exhibited at the National Geographic Museum (2018), National Museum of Wildlife Art (2019), and Palazzo Blu, Pisa (2023). The TASCHEN monograph was published in 2019 and reprinted in 2023.
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Stephen Wilkes
America at 250: Through the Lens of Stephen Wilkes 31 July - 31 August 2026Known for his imagery blending documentary storytelling and fine art photography, Stephen Wilkes’ work spans from landscapes to bustling cities. Wilkes is a National Geographic photographer who experiments with blending science and art to relay the concept of time and our relationship to it.Read more
Stephen Wilkes’ Day To Night series, in which he would spend up to 36 hours shooting the same scene, blends thousands of images into a single frame. The series was a 14-year personal journey to capture fundamental elements of our world through the hourglass of a single day.
Wilkes’ most recent series involves layering imagery on tapestries with photos shot within four to eight seconds, capturing fractional time, a different approach than the hours spent photographing Day To Night. The photograph on the tapestry is all done using in-camera multiple exposures without any post-work or retouching involved. Wilkes tried to capture not just what he was seeing, but what he was feeling in that moment.
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Echoes of Time
A selection of Photographs 25 September - 27 October 2025This fall, Gilman Contemporary presents Echoes of Time, a group exhibition featuring photographs by Stephen Wilkes, Ellie Davies, Nick Brandt, Maggie Taylor, Michael Massaia, and Jim Westphalen. Each artist captures the passage of time in a distinct and powerful way, offering viewers a meditation on memory, transformation, and impermanence.Read more
