Stephen Wilkes On The Everlasting Power Of Print Photography

Stephen Wilkes 

Stephen Wilkes’ career spans over four decades. During that time he’s released multiple photo books and enjoyed large scale print exhibitions. People all around the world have seen his works. As part of the Magnum Square Print sale, Wilkes spoke to Them Frames to unpack his career so far and discuss the power of print photography.

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Editor's note: The Magnum Square Print Sale runs until October 27th, 2024. It’s in partnership with The Photo Society and features work from acclaimed photographers such as Steve McCurry, Susan Meiselas, Stephen Wilkes and many more. 120 images are available to purchase. You can find further details at the end of the article.

First, we welcome you to enjoy the conversation…

Them Frames: I’d like to start by going back to 2006 and the release of Ellis Island: Ghosts of Freedom. Can you recall how it felt seeing five years of work put into print? Looking back on it, how do you feel about the work now?

Stephen Wilkes: Documenting Ellis Island from 1998-2003 was certainly a defining moment in my career. Through my collaboration with the New York Landmarks Conservancy, we were able to raise awareness, along with 6.5 million dollars to stabilize the south side of Ellis Island as a living ruin.

Ellis Island Ghosts of freedom was the culmination of many years of work, which I initially created from a pure passion project, a deep obsession with this place. I shot 4X5 transparency film, everything is photographed on camera, no retouching.

I actually developed a zone system for color film to get the latitude you see within these photographs. I never imagined that five years later I would be creating a book. I was blessed to work with an incredible publisher with WW Norton and the legendary editor Jim Mairs, who when he first saw the work, knew immediately what the book needed to be.

I also had a brilliant designer in Greg Samata who gave the work its classic yet innovative design. Seeing the book published was everything I could have hoped and dreamed for. The work has aged well, as history is timeless.

I still get letters from people who have the book, or have seen the work and feel that I captured the souls of their ancestors within my photographs. Ellis Island was the beginning of my exploration with time, memory and history, the thread that runs throughout various bodies of my work.

Them Frames: Your Day to Night work is incredible. I’m curious, what’s your approach to getting the best print possible, especially with the different types of light and color within a single frame?

Stephen Wilkes: Day to Night™ is certainly the most challenging project I’ve created as a photographer. The planning, shooting, and post-editing work can take several months to complete. I have always felt that the optimal experience for viewing this work is in a large fine art print.

I take great pride in the printing process, as I have been fortunate over the years to gain experience with a variety of printing techniques and collaborate with some extraordinary master printers. This includes everything from dye transfer to Cibachrome to inkjet technology (which I officially launched for Epson in 2000 with “America In Detail”).

When printing Day to Night™, color is particularly critical, as the color of light changes over time in my photographs. We begin with large test prints in-house as the file is finalized, with each iteration reviewed by my team and me. Once the file is final, I’ll spend weeks working with a master printer to finish and proof the work.

Them Frames: Some of your creations take over 24 hours to shoot and then months to edit. Now people can put in a simple text prompt to make an image with generative AI. How do you excite people to still put in those long hours and educate them about the rewards that come from doing so?

Stephen Wilkes: AI simply can’t replace the experience of being present and witnessing the awe of our planet in person. AI, as it relates to image creation, is an illustration tool, not a photograph.

It clearly has many issues yet to be resolved, particularly concerning the illegal scraping of intellectual property, especially the work of living artists. However, I believe the historic craft of photography—telling stories, communicating ideas, and capturing our world—will only become more valuable as we move deeper into a world of AI.

I’ve always loved the sheer act of photographing, and text-prompting an idea into a machine will never replace the act of discovery and the joy of seeing, for me.

Them Frames: The theme of the Square Print Sale is Eden. Why did you choose this image in particular for the sale?

Available now on The Magnum Square Print Sale

Stephen Wilkes: One of the joys of being on location is being open to reacting to whatever happens in front of you. This photograph was taken just as I was about to say the word “wrap” during an assignment in the Bahamas.

I suddenly noticed a thunderstorm had silently rolled in, and I witnessed a stunning moment when a bolt of lightning arced into the ocean. The storm clouds turned blue-gray, and I instinctively knew there was the potential to capture a very special photograph.

I immediately asked my model, Bronwyn, if she would be willing to stand on the shoreline rocks for a four-second exposure. Shooting with 4x5 film, through patience and some good luck, lightning struck again, and I was able to capture the entire scene in one single photograph.

This image speaks to the concept of Eden in a unique way. The looming thunderstorm, coupled with a distant bolt of lightning that draws her gaze, evokes a sense of untamed wilderness. Bronwyn’s calm gesture, with her bare feet on the shallow rocks, evokes a connection to the natural world, a place where humanity and nature exist in precarious harmony.

Them Frames: I’d love to quickly cover Tapestries as I find it sits in its own unique section of your overall works. What inspires you to make this type of imagery?

Stephen Wilkes: My son, Sam Wilkes, who is a brilliant bass player, described my tapestries like this: He said, "Dad, Days to Night™ is like your symphony, and Tapestries is like you're playing jazz."

I have always been inspired by the Impressionist movement in painting. About 10 years ago, while working on a Day to Night™ project in Italy, I became captivated by tapestries in several museums. I loved how multiple visual narratives were layered within the fabric of each piece.

This inspired me to think about layering unique moments within a photograph, as I moved my eye through a scene. So, I began taking multiple exposures, all in-camera, from varied perspectives, trying to capture not just what I was seeing, but what I was feeling in that moment.

The result of that exploration is my Tapestries series. These photographs are all created using in-camera multiple exposures and usually happen within four to eight seconds. They are spontaneous, layered photographs of unique moments in time.

Them Frames: Finally, there’s a generation of people who grew up in a predominantly digital era. How do you encourage and inspire them to see the value in print photography?

Stephen Wilkes: I try to encourage my students to think of the final print as THE ORIGINAL. Seeing your photographs printed for the first time truly changes the way you perceive the work. Print is a unique medium, which, when done well, elevates an image's visual and narrative power.

You can purchase 6x6 prints from The Magnum Square Sale via the official website. For more from Stephen Wilkes, be sure to check out his website.

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