Photographer #13: Jerry Uelsmann

1934-present

Jerry earned his BFA Degree at the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1957 and his M.S. and M.F.A at Indiana University in 1960. He began teaching photography at the University of Florida in Gainesville in 1960.  He made composite photographs with multiple negatives and a lot of darkroom work. It is said that he uses up to a dozen enlargers at a time to produce his final images. I found it interesting that he said "Most photographers carry many cameras with multiple attachments. Most photographers have one enlarger. I have half a dozen." --When beginning to create one of his photomontages, he has a strong intuitive sense of what he's looking for, some strategy for how to find it, and an understanding that mistakes are inevitable and are part of the creative process. (After reading that it really made me realize how essential mistakes are in photography because some "mistakes" really are blessings and help for a better image even if it is not exactly what you expected it to be) A day after he is done shooting his images he lays out his many different proof sheets, combines various contact prints, explores the visual possibilities, then brings the options into his darkroom. Once he has picked the images, he lays them in a number of enlargers that he owns in his darkroom, and moves the photo paper down the line and WA-LA! His image is beautifully created.

http://www.uelsmann.net/about.php