Mesmerizing photographs capture the incredible flight patterns of flocks of birds in slow motion

Mesmerizing photographs capture the incredible flight patterns of flocks of cranes, starlings, fulmars and seagulls in slow motion

  • Catalan artist Xavi Bou has dedicated the past five years of his life to his Ornitographies photography project
  • The works put a unique spin on traditional wildlife photography by turning birds in flight into abstract images 
  • Bou creates the images using the slow motion setting on a hi-resolution movie camera, then merges the frames together into a single image 
  • The images he’s produced capture flight patterns of birds including cranes, starlings, fulmars and seagulls 

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A photographer has put a unique spin on traditional wildlife photography, transforming familiar, flying flocks of birds into stark, futuristic abstractions across the sky. 

Catalan artist Xavi Bou, creator of Ornitographies project, is best known for his images which capture birds’ flight patterns, making them visible as undulating waves, spirals and fractured lines against otherworldly backdrops. 

Bou told Atlas Obscura that he got the idea for his artwork after wondering ‘what types of trails the birds would leave in the sky if that were possible’ and, after imagining what that lines would look like, ‘I thought it might be interesting to make them visible.’ 

Catalan artist Xavi Bou captures the usually invisible flight trails of birds in his Ornitographies project, which he has been working on exclusively for the past five years. Ornitography #153 is shown here

The stark, otherworldly images show the flight patterns of birds, which can appear as swirls, lines and waves across the sky. This image is titled Ornitography #159

The stark, otherworldly images show the flight patterns of birds, which can appear as swirls, lines and waves across the sky. This image is titled Ornitography #159

Among the different breeds he has turned his camera on are cranes, fulmars, seagulls and starlings. This is Ornitography_#62

Among the different breeds he has turned his camera on are cranes, fulmars, seagulls and starlings. This is Ornitography_#62

Bou uses a hi-resolution movie camera, shooting in slow motion, to capture the raw video of the birds flying, before spending weeks merging the video sequences into a single image. This is Ornitography #34

Bou uses a hi-resolution movie camera, shooting in slow motion, to capture the raw video of the birds flying, before spending weeks merging the video sequences into a single image. This is Ornitography #34

He started making test images in 2012 and was so taken by the results that he stopped working as a postproduction artist five years ago to focus on his Ornitographies project.  

The final images, which he posts on Instagram and puts on exhibition, are actually a composite of video stills taken from recordings that Bou captures over a number of days while he’s at a particular nature spot. 

He said that it can take anywhere from a week to 10 days to process those images at low resolution, before rendering them into their final, high-resolution form.  

Unlike long-exposure photography – during which a slow shutter speed produces blurred image of motion – Bou said that he achieves his unusual results by using a hi-res movie camera, shooting in slow motion and then merging the sequences into a single image.  

Bou said he initially started creating his images by focusing on the flight patterns of single birds. This is Ornitography #100

Bou said he initially started creating his images by focusing on the flight patterns of single birds. This is Ornitography #100

Over time, however, Bou said that he went from single birds to flocks of birds because of flocks lead to even more abstract images. This is Ornitography #125

This is Ornitography #139

Over time, however, Bou said that he went from single birds to flocks of birds because of flocks lead to even more abstract images. At left is Ornitography #125. At right is Ornitography #139

Bou travels to places like Spain's Delta of Ebro (pictured) in order to capture the birds that become the subjects of his works

Bou travels to places like Spain’s Delta of Ebro (pictured) in order to capture the birds that become the subjects of his works

Although Bou first started creating his artwork by capturing the flight of a solitary bird against a colorful landscape, he has since been attracted to flocks of birds against the sky.  

The latter provides ‘a more abstract result,’ he told Atlas Obscura, adding that ‘for me, it is much more powerful…. It goes beyond the simple “beauty.”‘

Bou said that among his favorite scenes to shoot are when flocks are startled and take off, en masse, due to the erratic nature of their flight. 

Among the bird breeds and their trajectories that have caught Bou’s eyes are cranes in Spain’s Gallocanta Lake, seagulls in Catalonia’s Delta de l’Ebre and fulmars in Iceland. 

Bou’s work is currently on display in France’s University of Rennes through January 15.   

Bou started making his bird flight art in 2012

Bou is seen here in the process of recording birds in flight

Bou (left) started making his bird flight art in 2012. He is seen at right in the process of recording birds in flight

Work Ornitography #97 features Atlantic puffins and Northern Fulmars, which were seen in Dyrholaey, Iceland

Work Ornitography #97 features Atlantic puffins and Northern Fulmars, which were seen in Dyrholaey, Iceland

Bou said his favorite scenes to shoot are when flocks are startled, as their flight patterns are erratic. This is Ornitography #108

Bou said his favorite scenes to shoot are when flocks are startled, as their flight patterns are erratic. This is Ornitography #108



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