Jerry Uelsmann

[ann]

AM sure many of you have already seen this but thought I would post anyway.


http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/jerry-uelsmann-surreal-photography

 

[DWThomas]

Yes! There was an exhibition of his work at the James Michener Museum in Doylestown, PA earlier this year. I was amused that there were pieces that at first look might scream "PHOTOSHOP" and then next to it is the title card "Silver gelatin print 1968."

They had a short video showing him in his darkroom with about 5 or 6 monster enlargers lined up so he could make setups and then create multiple prints as a sort of assembly line operation. In a lecture about him at the museum, someone commented that he was very generous in explaining his techniques to others -- then suggested that was because even after he told you, you still couldn't do it!

Awesome work.

 

[Rudolf Karachun]

INTERESTING, THANKS FOR THE LINK.

 

[BradleyK]

Thanks for the post Ann. I have admired his work from the time I began shooting; he continues to astonish with his imagination and his execution.

 

[ann]

Last year in my summer teenage darkroom class I was talking about burning and dodging and some one said "oh, Photoshop" and I said "oh, no darkroom".

It is amazing that so many people don't realize that those techniques come from a long traditional use of the darkroom. But then so many people have very little knowledge about the history of photography, so I suppose that makes sense.

 

[Mainecoonmaniac]

On Lynda.com, there's a series on Jerry Uelsman and his wife Maggie Taylor. It seems Jerry didn't take to Photoshop while Maggie Taylor did.

http://www.lynda.com/Photography-tu...ry page:1 s:relevance sa:true producttypeid:2

 

[ann]

Am a bit confused, Jerry is very old school. All that work is being done in the darkroom

 

[Gerald C Koch]

He was teaching at the University of Florida the year before I graduated. A very gracious man. I'm sorry that at the time my understanding of his work was not very good. His technique was incredable.

 

[winger]

He was doing these before I was born, he's old school alright. And I've loved his creations for a long time. The thought that goes into them is incredible enough, never mind the execution.

 

[Gerald C Koch]

It's interesting that the use of photoshop as a verb has a perjorative meaning. "That image has been photoshopped", in other words the image has been falsified.

 

[pentaxuser]

Might be worth altering the title to reflect the correct spelling of his name. Initially I hadn't realised it was about Jerry Uelsmann and skipped over it.

Of course I might be the only one to not instantly recognise whom the title was a reference to. His ability was truly amazing

pentaxuser

 

[ann]

good point, but how to change the spelling after the fact.

 

[MattKing]

good point, but how to change the spelling after the fact.

I "reported" the title change request to the moderators for you

 

[ann]

thanks Matt

 

[Ian Grant]

Thanks for posting this thread Ann. I've been a long time admirer of Jerry Uelsmann's work and i think it's time some of the digital brigade realised just what had already been done with film for many years. Photoshop doesn't realy add much that's new.

He certainly inspired me although for some reason I left most if not all of my experimental work behing in 1986, however I did quite a bit of multiple printing commercially in the ten years before that although not as complex as Uelsmann's.

Ian

 

[Chrismat]

I went to a lecture he gave at the Portland (Maine) Museum of Art about 20 years ago. It was a great lecture, he's a very down to earth guy.

 

[realart21]

Nice post .

 

[munz6869]

I was at the Museum of Photography, Seoul (South Korea) a fortnight ago, and they featured Jerry Uelsmann's exhibition. Some stellar darkroom skills there.

Marc!

 

[Michael W]

He had an exhibition at point light in Sydney a month or so back. Coming up in a couple of weeks is Michael Kenna.

 

[bsdunek]

The man was certainly the Master of the Darkroom. I've admired his work since the late 50's. Thanks for the link.

 

[Louis Nargi]

Thanks for the Link