Xavi Bou

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Xavi Bou
Born1979 (age 44–45)
Barcelona, Spain
OccupationPhotographer
Known forPhotographing birds in flight

Xavi Bou (born 1979)[1] is a Spanish photographer whose work makes visible the flight paths of birds.[2][3][4][5][6]

Biography[edit]

Xavi Bou was born in Barcelona in 1979 and raised in Prat del Llobregat.

Bou's love for nature began through walks with his grandfather to the wetlands of Delta del Llobregat.[7] In 2003 he graduated in geology at the University of Barcelona and in photography at Grisart International Photography School.[8] After 2003 he focused on the world of fashion and advertising, working as a lighting technician for several photographers.[9]

In 2009 he founded a photo retouching studio.[10] Also for four years, he taught digital photography and post-production.[citation needed]

In 2012 he embarked on Ornitographies.

Ornitographies[edit]

Bou focuses on bird flights capturing the contours drawn by birds in motion, or, as he says, "to make visible the invisible".[9]

Bou says that he feels like a curator looking for hidden drawings that birds make in the sky with their flights.[11]

Depending on the type of flight, the result could be regular patterns, like flamingoes in a V formation, or chaotic lines like swifts looking for insects in the air.[12]

One of the favorite birds are clouds of starlings when they do their murmuration dance,[13] especially when this group is behind attacked by hawks, as Bou says in an Atlas Obscura article: "I am passionate about the idea of how a sculptor, the hawk, shapes the shapes of starling clouds", he says.[14]

With this project Bou created a multimedia project called Murmurations.[15] Most of the images were made in Catalonia or in the area of the Iberian Peninsula. However, he also worked in Iceland and the United States.[citation needed]

Technique[edit]

To show several seconds into a single image Bou uses the chronophotography technique.[16][9][17] It is a technique created at the end of the 19th century, known through its main representatives: Eadweard Muybridge, Étienne-Jules Marey and Ottomar Anschütz. This consists of taking many photographs in a row and then combining them all into a single one.

In the first stage of the study, in which Bou invested five years, he used his own camera. Subsequently, to perfect the technique and photographs, he used professional digital cinema cameras. These cameras allow him to take 25 to 120 frames in a second at a high-resolution.[18]

Exhibitions[edit]

Solo exhibitions[edit]

Group exhibitions[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "About". xavibou.com. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  2. ^ Bou/Rex/Shutterstock, Xavi (1 October 2016). "Xavi Bou's photographs reveal flight paths of birds – in pictures". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Vogelvormen". de Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  4. ^ Simon, Johnny. "Photos: Birds' flight patterns captured as beautiful pieces of abstract art". Quartz. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  5. ^ Capossela, Francesca (1 July 2016). "Bird Flight Patterns Get Captured in Stunning Still Images". Vice. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Turning bird swarms into art | DW | 2 March 2019", dw.com, retrieved 25 May 2020
  7. ^ "Stunning Chronophotographs Capture the Patterns of Birds in Flight". Hyperallergic. 2 July 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  8. ^ "The school-Grisart escola internacional de fotografia".
  9. ^ a b c "If Birds Left Tracks in the Sky, They'd Look Like This". Magazine. 2 December 2017. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  10. ^ "LaCrin Studio". LaCrin Studio. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  11. ^ "Xavi Bou's "Ornithographies" – od review". theodreview.com. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  12. ^ "Xavi Bou Traces The Invisible Flight Patterns Of Birds". IGNANT. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  13. ^ "Starlings Fly in Flocks So Dense They Look Like Sculptures". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  14. ^ Lee, Winnie (1 January 2020). "How One Photographer Captures the Glory of Birds in Flight". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  15. ^ "Synchronized Starling Flocks Undulate in Mesmerizing Patterns Captured by Photographer Xavi Bou". Colossal. 2 April 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  16. ^ "Xavi Bou uses an antique photo technique to freeze birds in flight". CNN. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  17. ^ Mallonee, Laura (1 August 2016). "Mesmerizing Photos Capture the Flight Patterns of Birds". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  18. ^ Europe, Canon. "Xavi Bou on capturing birds in flight". Canon Europe. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  19. ^ "El Observatorio Espacio de Creación Fotográfica, XAVI BOU / Ornitografies". El Observatorio Espacio de Creación Fotográfica. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  20. ^ "De droom van het vliegen". Rijksmuseum Twenthe. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  21. ^ "XAVI BOU. ORNITOGRAFÍAS | CAC Mijas" (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  22. ^ "XAVI BOU – ORNITOGRAFÍAS". fineartigualada.cat (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  23. ^ "Ornitografies". Centre Cívic Casa Golferichs (in Catalan). Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  24. ^ "Xavi Bou fotografía el vuelo de las aves". imparcialoaxaca.mx. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  25. ^ "Exposition – Ornithographies | Université Rennes 2". www.univ-rennes2.fr. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  26. ^ "Aktuelles – Phyletisches Museum Jena". www.phyletisches-museum.de. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  27. ^ "2017 Aperture Summer Open: On Freedom". Aperture Foundation NY. Retrieved 25 May 2020.

External links[edit]

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