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Day to Night: In the Field with Stephen Wilkes

May 24, 2019 - August 18, 2019
04: Black-browed albatrosses and southern rockhopper penguins STEEPLE JASON, FALKLAND ISLANDS Albatrosses roost by the sea, sharing the grassy incline with penguins. While these albatrosses sit on their nests, warming and protecting their chicks, their partners soar above the ocean, swooping down to catch prey. The birds winter on the Patagonian Shelf and in estuaries in Argentina, and return to the same colony. To reach this remote location, Wilkes made his way through a phalanx of angry striated caracaras. Standing on a mound of tussac grass for a better vantage, he took 926 photos in 26 hours, using about 80 to make this image. PHOTOGRAPHED WITH PERMISSION OF THE WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY Photo by Stephen Wilkes/National Geographic

A photography exhibition showcasing stunning images by Stephen Wilkes that capture the passage of time. The exhibition features expansive and powerful mega-prints of captivating bird migrations, measuring roughly 7 feet tall and 12 feet wide. The prints focus on migratory species and their habitats that are under threat due to climate change and human impact, such as commercial fishing and menacing tourists. Visitors get an intimate look at: Black-browed albatrosses, Northern gannets, Sandhill cranes, and Lesser flamingos. Behind the scenes of each massive image, visitors learn about the species, the location where Wilkes photographed them, and what makes them integral to the ecosystem. Wilkes’ photography can be used as an instrument for change, inspiring solutions to help protect species and habitats that are at risk.

Exhibition Events

Sneak Peek
Thursday, May 23, 2019

Mix’d Media
Thursday, June 27, 2019

04: Black-browed albatrosses and southern rockhopper penguins STEEPLE JASON, FALKLAND ISLANDS Albatrosses roost by the sea, sharing the grassy incline with penguins. While these albatrosses sit on their nests, warming and protecting their chicks, their partners soar above the ocean, swooping down to catch prey. The birds winter on the Patagonian Shelf and in estuaries in Argentina, and return to the same colony. To reach this remote location, Wilkes made his way through a phalanx of angry striated caracaras. Standing on a mound of tussac grass for a better vantage, he took 926 photos in 26 hours, using about 80 to make this image. PHOTOGRAPHED WITH PERMISSION OF THE WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY Photo by Stephen Wilkes/National Geographic
Black-browed albatrosses and southern rockhopper penguins STEEPLE JASON, FALKLAND ISLANDS Albatrosses roost by the sea, sharing the grassy incline with penguins. While these albatrosses sit on their nests, warming and protecting their chicks, their partners soar above the ocean, swooping down to catch prey. The birds winter on the Patagonian Shelf and in estuaries in Argentina, and return to the same colony. To reach this remote location, Wilkes made his way through a phalanx of angry striated caracaras. Standing on a mound of tussac grass for a better vantage, he took 926 photos in 26 hours, using about 80 to make this image. PHOTOGRAPHED WITH PERMISSION OF THE WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY Photo by Stephen Wilkes/National Geographic
Stephen Wilkes in the Field. Photograph by Chris Janjic.
Stephen Wilkes in the Field. Photograph by Chris Janjic.
Lesser flamingos LAKE BOGORIA, KENYA The lesser flamingos of Africa’s Great Rift Valley thrive in the extreme environment of high-altitude soda lakes, feeding on algal blooms that are toxic to many other creatures. The birds are not migratory but nomadic, traveling from one lake to another, wherever food is plentiful. Wilkes shot 1,742 photos over 36 hours from a 30-foot scaffolding wrapped in camouflage, capturing the endless movements of the flamingos and the marabou storks stalking them. He chose about 30 for this image. Photo by Stephen Wilkes/National Geographic
Other Exhibits
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Out of the Shadows: Prints from the Permanent Collection

Through April 27, 2025

Dürer, Rembrandt, Goya, Picasso, Warhol—while many of the works in this show may be small in size, they are created by some of the biggest names in the canon of art history.

See the Exhibit
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Tony Foster: Watercolour Diaries from the Green River

Through May 4, 2025

Artist Tony Foster became fascinated with the 50-million-year-old Green River fossilized fish when he first saw them in 1985. It was from these small special objects that he comprised the idea to make a group of artworks about the Green River. He began his project in 2018, creating a major painting of Steamboat Rock and the horseshoe bend from his vantage point up a 400 foot cliff. In the summer of 2019 he took a rafting trip from the Gates of Lodore to Split Rock, creating five smaller paintings en route. From these initial works he created this exhibition about, in Foster’s words: “this magnificent river.”

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What People Are Saying
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