Stephen Wilkes

Stephen Wilkes

For more than two decades Stephen Wilkes has been widely recognized for his
fine art and commercial photography. His work can be found gracing the covers of top magazines such as Vanity Fair, Sports Illustrated, Time, Life Magazine, and The New York Times Magazine.

In 1999 Wilkes completed a personal project photographing the south side of Ellis Island: the ruined landscape of the infectious disease and psychiatric hospital wings, where children and adults alike were detained before they could enter America. Through his photographs and video work, Wilkes has inspired and helped secure $6 million in funding towards the restoration for the south side of the island. Wilkes’ photographs of Bethlehem Steel, the dismantled steel factory in Bethlehem Pennsylvania and his latest works on China, were also exhibited at the David Gallery in Los Angeles, ClampArt Gallery New York, and at the Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe.

In November of 2006 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. published Ellis Island:
Ghosts of Freedom, a book of the photographs Wilkes captured on the island for a final tribute to the south side. Wilkes continues to be involved with his passion for Ellis Island. Wilkes was featured on Weekend Edition with Scott Simon of NPR, CBS Sunday Morning with Martha Teichner and the book received high critical acclaim including Time Magazine’s 5 Best Photography Books of The Year, 2006. Wilkes newest body of work is titled Day to Night. The work embodies epic cityscapes of New York with fleeting moments throughout the Day to Night. Wilkes photographs from one camera angle continuously for up to 15 hours. A select group of images are then electronically blended into one photograph. The work will be exhibited at ClampArt Gallery in New York from September 8 –October 27, 2011 and at The Monroe Gallery in Santa Fe in the spring of 2012. Wilkes’ photographs can be found on permanent collection at the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House, Library of Congress, Dow Jones Collection, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Jewish Museum, New York, James A Michener Art Museum and The Historic New Orleans Collection.

Wilkes also shoots campaigns for many of the world’s leading agencies and
corporations, including IBM, Chevron, DHL, Northrop Grumman, Wyeth
Pharmaceuticals, Verizon, Cap Gemini, PepsiCo, The New York Stock Exchange,
Epson, American Express, Nike, Sony, AT&T, Rolex, 180Amsterdam, Ogilvy &
Mather, EuroRSCG, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Wieden + Kennedy and
TBWA/Chiat Day.