Day to Night is a spectacular ongoing series by fine art photographer Stephen Wilkes featuring urban landscapes that transcend the confines of time by presenting day and night shots of iconic cityscapes in one image. Using up to 1,500 images from a 15-hour shoot day (from sunrise to sunset), Wilkes takes about a month to edit his shots into one composite image that reveals the gradience of time.
Each photo manipulation presents a striking look at a major city from the crack of dawn till nightfall. As natural sunlight washes over the brilliant, booming landscape and recedes to allow the artificial glow of the architecture and streetlights to take over the night sky, we’re given a sense of each city’s appeal throughout the course of a day. There’s also a rich sense of history and culture captured through the passage of time, reflected in each seamlessly transitioning shot.
The photographer says, “The images are so layered; there are so many elements that I love about the medium: Street, history, people environment, narrative, and storytelling. I’m drawn to cities that have not only fantastic architecture but also fascinating street life. The human narrative is the subtext in a lot of my photographs, so the more you look at it, the more you are going to discover.” Having already taken on some of the biggest cities—including New York City, Washington DC, and Shanghai—Wilkes looks forward to adding the iconic cityscapes of Chicago, London, and Paris to the growing series.
