Revealing the hidden beauty of bird flight | Xavi Bou | TEDxKonstanz

What traces would birds leave in the sky, if their path was visible? And how do the flights of birds visually differ from one another? With some research and exploration, Xavi Bou found the answer with his main project: Ornithographies. Inspired by the 19th Century Etienne-Jules Marey's Chronophotography, Xavi uses photographs to transform the sky into a canvas, by making visible the hidden beauty of the choreography of bird flight. Through this lens, flocks of birds appear as flowing, contorting ribbons. It's a view of collective behaviour like never before.
Xavi is a photographer from Barcelona with a great passion for nature and in particular for Ornithology. His photographs have been published in National Geographic, The Guardian, Geo and many more. What brought him so far is his passion for his work and the eagerness to bring invisible footprints of birds to visibility.

Intro animation by Mike Costelloe. Music intro from Phase 3 by Xylo-Ziko, used under CC BY-NC 4.0.
Studio filming by Xavi Narro.
Field filming by Daniel Cubero.
Video editing by Lilith Kugler. Xavi Bou graduated with a degree in Geology in 2003 from the University of Barcelona. In 2004 he went on to complete his studies in photography at Grisart International School of Photography, and for the next decade, Xavi worked in the advertisement and fashion industry combining it with
teaching photograpy.

However, Xavi’s love of nature was always present, so in 2012 he embarked on Ornitographies; photography inspired by his curiosity about the invisible patterns traced by birds in flight. “My intention is to capture the beauty of the bird’s flight in a single moment, making the invisible visible. Ornitographies moves away from the purely scientific practice of Chronophotography that 19th century photographers Eadward Muybridge and Étienne Jules Marey developed. It is the balance between art and science, a project of naturalist discovery, and, at the same time, an exercise of visual poetry.”

Xavi’s 2015 debut of Ornitographies instantly caught the attention of international publications and collectors, and his work has since been published in National Geographic, The Guardian, Der Spiegel, Geo, and Sonntag, among many others. Xavi has exhibited Ornitographies in Australia, Holland, The United States, Spain, Switzerland, France, Russia, Greece, Germany or Mexico.

[pamelaparrish]

I love this guy! So grateful to hear his shared description of how his imagination carried his project to fruition--and SO GLAD he did!!! So BEAUTIFUL!! I have grateful tears! THANK YOU!!💗💗💗🔥🐇🌱🍃🌟🐣🐣🐣🐣🐣💗

[neutch]

I'm very happy for him, he was able to follow his passion. I hope he keeps making the world a better place with his art.

[gavinsullivan]

He has a strong accent but if you turn on closed captions it’s easier to follow. Great work there I have to say 👍

[mariettehamel]

THANK YOU so much for showing us such beauty. In a "near" future, all people will be able to express their dream to the world...this is our future... to do what inspires us and share it to the world.

[cregggurfson]

His passion moves my heart, keep on living the dream 🍀

[bravofoxable]

This is amazing. I've been studying birds for many years and they are absolutely stunning. Very good video, thank you 🕊️

[janas_tueddelkram]

I saw his photographs at a museum in Jena. They’re absolutely stunning.

[lorenzococco]

Just lovely ❤️ thank you so much for this beautiful work.

[prkzoomin]

A Good Quote, Don't stress over anything that you can't change

[pamelaparrish]

And, thank you, Xavi Bou's Grandpa!!!💗

[judyfleming]

Wow that was a great presentation. I love your passion that fueled your persistence. I am happy for you. And thanks for passing along your message of seeking one's personal discoveries for inner fulfillment. The outcome was stunning!

[firewaterbydesign]

Birds are God's divine angels watching over ALL of us.

[ek]

*Grace* must be a presence
and an intelligence that can enter into and abide
in any situation,
in any world, in any climate,
in any condition, in any culture and
in any race.
It must be something that can enter silently and abide with circumstances as they are.
It must be something that can enter at the invitation of a genuine and sincere request.
It must be something that can abide with a man or woman of Knowledge,
something that can abide with them without dominating them and
exist with them and in them without manipulating them.
It must abide with them in such a way that the authority of the person who is its recipient is not overshadowed or usurped.
*Grace* must be something that can be translated from one mind to another and transferred from one world to another.

This beautiful and powerful quote is by *Marshall Vian Summers* from a book, Greater Community Spirituality, Chapter 25: What is Grace?

[nathanrocks]

It would be amazing to see this type of photography used in the sports world.

[vayxanh]

Amazing 👏👏👏, thank so much for sharing the story, passion and your photos 🤩🤩🤩

[nareshdaver]

Hi Xavi,
It is really amazing to know that you have found hidden beauty of Bird flight through.

It just connected to my experience when I saw your this video blog just now.

Everyday I love to watch birds and also love to listen voice.
You know I notice that all birds fly in one direction like in early morning they go east direction from west ....
Please share your Article link ....If any....Would like to share some more

[alexandrabaza]

His work is so beautiful and from the little I could gather there is a great message behind it. I wish that the video had been filmed over a dark background so the closed caption text could be read... I really want to understand what he is saying.

[johnnorth]

Brilliant and fascinating talk, and amazing images. Many writers on the Net suggest trying chronophotography, but absolutely now-where can I find HOW to do it, especially merge / blend images using software. Usually, software will remove, not add differences between different images. Does anyone have any suggestions? I use Affinity Photo 2.

[lr]

el título de tu video me atrajo porque me fascinan las garzas y recuerdo de niña a mi madre cuidando palomas lastimadas específicamente y cualquier ave herida que ella reparara y enviara de regreso a la naturaleza. Estoy fascinada con las aves. Nunca olvidare tu video muy especial que tocó mi alma y mi corazón. Espero para ti, paz y amor en tu corazón que volaría por todo el mundo.

[calholli]

The video should be called: "The hidden words of a talking man"