See, remember, create: unique graphic artist Stephen Wiltsher (13 photos + 1 video)

Drawing and painting are as complex art forms as any other. And it can take years to learn. But not in the case of Stephen Wiltsher.





Now he is a unique architectural artist with a phenomenal memory. It is enough for him to take one glance at the city landscape to reproduce it in the smallest detail.



Stephen at work

But this is now. And at three years old, the baby was diagnosed with autism because the boy did not speak. At the same time, Steve did not have any physiological abnormalities or illnesses. Only at seven did he utter his first word. It was the word “paper”, because through images he communicated with the world and drew-drew-drew. The boy spoke only when he was 10 years old.

When he was 11 years old, Steve became a participant in an interesting Air Force program. As part of it, Wiltshare flew around the central part of London in a helicopter. And then he reproduced an exact map of his hometown from memory. There are hardly a couple of dozen people with such abilities all over the world. And the child received a well-deserved nickname - Living Camera.



After London there were other cities - Rome, Madrid, Tokyo, Frankfurt, New York and more. Some panoramas reach a length of 10 meters. And to remember the slightest nuances, the artist only needs a twenty-minute excursion over the city by helicopter.



Stephen now has several books, his own gallery in London and thousands of works. Thanks to his perseverance and unique gift, the artist was awarded the Order of the British Empire for his contribution to art.



By the way, Wiltsher’s favorite film is “Rain Man” with Dustin Hoffman. After all, he is very similar to the main character - a genius savant with a phenomenal memory.

Manifestation of savantism



Savant syndrome (savant - in French “scientist”) - this is the name given to this person’s peculiarity. This feature is rare and little studied. It is known that the brain of such people, due to pathological changes, works differently from others. This can be manifested by developmental disabilities (inability to do basic things in everyday life) and amazing abilities. Among them are a phenomenal memory like Stephen’s, talents in music, painting, mathematics and other sciences.