Jerry Uelsmann's Work

[Buckster]

Very interesting darkroom work with multiple enlargers:

Incredible Manipulated Photography Before Photoshop - My Modern Metropolis

Don't miss the video at the end, and there's a link to his web site there too.

 

[Ilovemycam]

Thanks Buckster!

 

[sscarmack]

Wow. Excellent find.

 

[KenC]

I've seen his stuff in books, although not the original prints, and thought he was quite an artist. Amazing that he could do so much in the darkroom.

 

[ann]

His wife, Maggie Taylor, does similar work;however using a computer.

 

[terri]

I've been a huge fan for many years. :hail:

It's more about his artistic vision for me, though certainly the technique takes some doing (but it CAN be learned by anyone with patience - and access to a community darkroom with several enlargers at hand!). He is AWESOME, isn't he??

I've never gotten to watch the action like this, so thanks so much for posting that video! Like all the masters, he makes it look easy.

I'm quite a fan of a lot of his wife's work, as well (Maggie Taylor). Though she is more a digital artist, she has terrific imagination and does gorgeous stuff.

What a team! :love:



Edit: Oh! Ann, you beat me to the mention of Maggie Taylor.

 

[runnah]

I used to have a copy of the tree/house photo hanging on my wall. Not an original copy

 

[vintagesnaps]

I was thinking the same thing Terri as soon as I saw his darkroom... I had been using a darkroom at a university (which since has renovated the building and I'm waiting the long wait for the new art building to be built) - later in the summer nobody much used it so I would have had all the enlargers to myself! I agree it wouldn't really be that difficult as much as time consuming, but figuring out how to put that many images together in a way that looks a bit like Dali wents nuts in the darkroom - and do it well - is where the challenge would be.

Alchemy... I feel the same way as he described, I never get tired of sliding that piece of paper under the surface of the developer and watching the image emerge. It's great when you know you nailed it before you even get it out of the developer (then there are those times where you have to get it out in the light and see what other adjustments need to be made...). I've spent time projecting an image and tracing onto a piece of cardboard to cut out one little shape to burn in the middle of a photo - and that's as close as I've come to this type thing!

Incredible work by a talented artist, thanks for posting it Buckster.

 

[terri]

Sharon, I might be doing the same thing at my local college. Since my move, I still don't have my full darkroom up and running and since I'm taking regular classes at the college and can access it, I'm leaving some stuff boxed up for now. (Killing me on a certain level, but I lack the time anyway!)

I'm like you, though...if anyone was familiar with the technique of multiple printing, I'd certainly have fun giving it a go! Grab a box or three of negatives and see what could be pieced together. I have a book with detailed directions, but something tells me that's not the best way to step-stone through this.

Uelsmann is mind-blowing to me not only for the vision and the technique, but those prints work because they are so masterfully done - highlights, tonality, etc., from each negative is so perfectly executed! Heck, I still am not convinced of a winner from ONE negative until dry-down.