Human camera takes 'snapshot' of Shanghai
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| British artist Stephen Wiltshire draws Shanghai landmarks of the Lujiazui area of Pudong in a studio in Shanghai-based East China Normal University on Sunday. |
British artist Stephen Wiltshire, dubbed the human camera for his ability to draw a landscape after viewing it only once, has created vivid drawings of Shanghai landmarks in the Lujiazui area of Pudong.
After drawing from 10 am to 5 pm on Sunday and Monday, Wiltshire finished a canvas 1.28 meter wide and 0.8 meter high at the Arts School of East China Normal University.
"I was impressed by buildings in the Expo Garden like the UK Pavilion, but I preferred drawing skyscrapers or cityscapes," said Wiltshire, 36, who is autistic and often responded in short sentences with a low voice.
Wiltshire was diagnosed as autistic when he was 3 years old and did not communicate with other people as a child. He had no language skills, experienced uncontrolled tantrums and lived entirely in his own world.
Annette Wiltshire, Wiltshire's sister who accompanied him on his Shanghai trip, said her brother dropped his original plan of drawing the Expo Garden.
He made his decision to draw the Lujiazui area after viewing it from the top of the Hyatt on the Bund where he saw the panoramic view of landmarks like the Oriental Pearl Tower, World Financial Center and Jin Mao Tower along the east side of the Huangpu River.
"We knew he would choose to draw the Lujiazui area in Pudong because he browsed the area for roughly half an hour by taking notes and he made the decision by the end of the tour," said Simon Chang, who organized the activity.
Chang said 2,010 copies of Wiltshire's drawing will be signed and put up for sale for 988 yuan ($148) at 2 pm on Oct 1 at Shanghai's City of Books.
The original drawing will be auctioned in Shanghai, said Chang.
Chang also said Wiltshire has brought an extra canvas and will draw more of the city before leaving for Britain on Oct 3.
Wiltshire gained fame at 13 after sketching a remarkably accurate and detailed 18-square-kilometer area of London.
His accurate visual memory and drawing ability shocked the world again during an astonishing display in a segment in the 2001 BBC documentary Fragments of Genius.
On this segment Wiltshire completed a stunningly detailed and remarkably accurate drawing of London from the air spanning 10 sq km with 12 landmarks and 200 other buildings drawn to perfect perspective and scale three hours after he was taken on a helicopter ride over the city.
In May 2005, following a short helicopter ride over Tokyo, he drew a detailed panoramic view from memory of the city on a 10-meter canvas.
Since then he has drawn other giant canvasses of world famous cities including Rome, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Madrid, Dubai and Jerusalem.
The last drawing in the series took place in New York in October last year. He completed his masterpiece at the Pratt Institute, the world famous college of art and design in New York.
As is Wiltshire's habit, he listens to music while drawing.
"I don't want to be disturbed although I don't mind if people come along and watch me sketching during the drawing period," said Wiltshire.
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