Jerry Uelsmann Influence On Photography

Jerry Uelsmann was the originator of photomontage in the 20th century, he did things he should not have been able to do in a darkroom with only enlargers, because digital enhancements did not exist at that time. The surreal, spiritual and thought-provoking images of Jerry Uelsmann, makes him one of the world’s most acclaimed photographers. Jerry Uelsmann was born in Detroit on June 11, 1934. He received his B.F.A. degree at the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1957 and his M.S. and M.F.A. at Indiana University in 1960. Also in 1960 he began teaching photography at the University of Florida. Uelsmann’s work has been exhibited in more than 100 individual shows in the United States and abroad and his photographs are in the permanent collections
of many museums worldwide (Uelsmann, 2012).
Even though Uelsmann discovered his love for photography in high school, he made a life changing realization that photography could be more than just an assignment while attending the Rochester Institute of Technology. At this time photography was seen as a craft, rather than a fine art form and was not accepted fully in the art world. In the 1960’s Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and Alfred Stieglitz set a pre-visualization standard, nailing the exposure, knowing what you want before you push the shutter (Rae, 2013).
Uelsmann realized pre-visualization can be limiting.
Jerry Uelsmann pioneered compositing images long before Photoshop came into the world. As many as seven enlargers lining up negatives will be used at one time for Jerry to get one image. He found that he can line up the paper with the negatives to get what he wants. Jerry would rather use darkroom alchemy than digital processing because there is magic when the print starts to show up in the developer. Jerry pushes himself in the darkroom because he knows he will astonish himself and knows he has nothing to lose but paper and time. Some may get a sense of security from adhering to a prescribed path, but great art is not made that way. Ideas need to be pushed into uncertainty. “Often good art comes from the fringes by those taking visual risks (Rae,
2013).
The Floating Tree, 1969 shows an island in a lake that is home to a tree with a seed pod in the water.
The tree appears to be drifting off into the sky like its companion tree has drifted closer to the mountains. The Floating Tree is beautiful to me; it shows life from the seed pod to the grown tree. I see the floating tree as death, but death for a tree is only composting itself back into the earth to make new life, which brings my eyes back to the seed pod in the image.
Small Woods Where I Met Myself, 1967 shows a girl multiple times walking and hiding in the trees. She seems to be in quiet, desolate forest where she is thinking about life. This is where the girl meets herself as the title suggests. Apocalypse II, 1967, shows people standing on what looks to me like a beach with waves crashing to shore. The beautiful tree shown in a negative format depicts the name of the photograph, Apocalypse. The tree also looks like there is some kind of living creature in the trunk of the tree, maybe something evil representing the
apocalypse.
Jerry Uelsmann is considered to be one of the forerunners of modern image manipulation, despite continuing to work methodically in the analog darkroom. Uelsmann is not certain about the meanings of his art, only the parts included in his images. He does not settle on a final composition until it satisfies himself. Uelsmann challenges viewers psychologically and emotionally. He also challenges the critics because his images are not exactly easy to write about. The images do not rely on art theory; they invite the viewers to enjoy their own interpretations. This hovers in the face of postmodernism, which has dominated much of the photographic environment. Since Uelsmann's images vary in meaning and emotion from viewer to viewer, they cannot be confined to a simplified genre nor can they be fully intellectualized through commentary (Rand, 2012).