Photography of Jerry N Uelsman

Something I have become interested in learning more about is combining two photo's into one and also black and white photography. I started to become interested in Jerry N. Uelsmann because his photographs and technique really caught my attention. So far I have learned that Jerry N. Uelelsman produced alot of his work using a dark room. He was able to do what we do now with Photo Shop using the darkroom. He believed that a piece of work can have many negatives in the end and doesn't have to focus on one. He was a very well educated man who not only did photography but taught it to others as well. He has had over 100 shows in the last 40 years.

This information is from his personal site . The sources of this information is a site which is dedicated to his achievements and great photographs. The information that I've been reading is from LiveBooks.

This topic of having more then one focus relates to me and my interests because in my work I tended on having more then one focus in my final photo's. I try to make the photo as a whole rather then one main focus. One thing that surprised me was that Jerry N Uelsman was that he mkes a living off his teaching not photography . One thing that I wonder about this person's work and life is why he only did black and white photographs?

Jerry N Uelsman was not involved with any movements during his time. He used a similar technique to Rejlander, another famous photographer. He used his idea of an image not being tied to a single negative but also used his  own aspects like creating surrealist imagery.

Being that I didn't have a lot of background information on Jerry N Uelsman, I chose to do some more research. As I searched for another source of information about this person, I came across this additional article: Jerry Uelsman Alternative Fine Art. This article provided a lot of information and opinions on my theme basketball.

"I am sympathetic to the current digital revolution and excited by the visual options created by the computer. However, I feel my creative process remains intrinsically linked to the alchemy of the darkroom." This statement didn't really surprise me all that much, but it did make me feel inspired. This photographer can accomplish what he wants using a computer but still chooses to do his work using a darkroom. I think that his dark room work is far better then most of the work I have seen done on Photo Shop. It brings some sort of natural light and darkness to the table that can only be captured through a camera.

In the article, Jerry Uelsman Alternative Fine Art, there was a statement that made me nod my head in agreement with the writer. It was: "No longer burdened by representation, we naturally return to our internal, nonlinear faculties of thought and feeling to savor the inexpressible resonance of his enigmatic visions." This is so true because his images make us see what he wants us to see. He makes you think about whats going on inside his photographs, even though they are black and white there true meaning are way further then that. When I look at his photo's I tend to find a personal connection which is the goal for a great photographer.

Now that I have done this research, it makes me think more about my own work Jump Shot.

All of this information I learned relates to my photography. Throughout all my photo's I have been changing lighting of my photo's, which relates to his work. I have also been doing things on Photo Shop which he does in the darkroom. Also a lot of his photographs have gave me great idea's on what to do next.

Next, with my own work, I hope to make a black and white photo involving my theme basketball. I hope to accomplish a similar goal in my photo as Jerry N Uelsman has in his work. I want to make my photo's have a deeper meaning other then what they just appear to be, I want them to make people think.