E X P L O R I N G T H E 5 0 – Y E A R C A R E E R O F P H O T O G R A P H E R Jerry Uelsmann,
T H E M I N D ’S EY E traces the growth of one of the 20th century’s unique
artistic minds. The images range from rarely seen documentary
photos of the 1950s to the complex photomontages that challenged
the very notion of what a photograph could be.
THE MIND’S EYE > PHOTOGRAPHS BY JERRY UELSMANN
FormywifeandsoulmateMaggie Taylor,thebeaconthatismyresourcefulandlovingnavigationalconfidant.
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CatalogoftheW
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Plates
SomeH
umanisticC
onsiderationsofPhotography
Post–Visualization
PhotographyThroughtheK
aleidoscope
JerryUelsm
ann:PrimaFacie
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The photomontages of Jerry N. Uelsmann are as instantly recognizable as any photographic images made in
thesecondhalfof the20th century. Today theystandasgerminal, theprogenitorsofanapproach tophotographic image-makingso
JERRY UELSMANN: PRIMA FACIE
well-established and widespread that it’s strange to recall (and, for a younger
audience,nodoubtdifficulttoimagine)thestormofcontroversythatragedaround
themastheyfirstbeganappearingintheearly1960s.
WhenUelsmannbeganworkinginthisformofphotography
almostfivedecadesago,thecontextinwhichhelaboredwasdiametricallyopposite
tothatinwhichhefunctionstoday.Partlyduetohisconsistentanddetermined
efforts—aspractitioner,astheorist,asteacher,aspubliclecturer,andgenerally
asexemplar—theworkingdefinitionofwhatconstitutesthefullfieldofideasand
strategies in contemporary photography is a far more expansive one than that
whichwasoperativewhenhesetoutonhispath. >
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1. True, authentic, or adequate at first sight; ostensible.
2. Evident without proof or reasoning; obvious.
A D J E C T I V E :
At first sight; before closer inspection.
A D V E R B :
BY
A
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D.
C
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Dispute has always swirled around this practice. Photomontage first attracted widespread attention in the
mid-nineteenthcenturythroughthedirectorial,literaryworkofHenryPeachRobinsonandO.G.Rejlander,whosetechniquesandresults
concerningthepredictabilityandliteralnessofthephotograph.Thisheightensawarenessoftheimagery’sartificiality,evokingadifferent
setofquestionsinregardtoitspurpose.
Unlike photocollage, with which it’s sometimes confused,
photomontageisgeneratedonphotographicpaperorfilmandoftenlooks—atleast
atfirstglance—likeunmanipulatedimagery.AsUelsmann’soeuvredemonstrates,
evenwhenthecombinatorialnatureofthefinishedworkisrecognizeditmayoffer
littleorno indicationofwhereonecomponentendsandanotherbegins.Those
who employ it deliberately propose a radical alternative to the naturalism that
has been the stock-in-trade of photography since its inception. Photomontage
providesunsettlingevidencethat,paradoxically,althoughthecameramustalways
address something in front of the lens, some photographs portray events that
neverhappened.
Thesearenotdocumentsofanysinglemomentofexternal
“reality.”Theirpurposeisnottodeludetheviewerintothepermanentconvictionthat
theworldreallylookedthatway.Instead,theycontradicttheviewer’sassumptions
were the subject of heatedandeven violent debateamongphotographersand
critics.Vernacularphotography—postcardimageryandportraitureinparticular—
popularizedit.Inthe1920sitbecameastapleofmodernistpracticeinEurope,even
entering thephotographycurriculumdevised for theBauhausbyLászlóMoholy-
Nagy,whocalledit“simultaneousseeingbymeansoftransparentsuperimposition.”
ButmodernistsintheU.S.repudiatedit,andthephoto-historicalestablishmentin
theStates,sharingtheirbiases,virtuallybanisheditfromthescene.
Yet even when photomontage fell into disfavor, it refused
todie.BeforeUelsmannandothersofhisgenerationbeganexploringthissetof
practices,suchNorthAmericanexperimentersasBarbaraMorgan,EdmundTeske,
ClarenceJohnLaughlin,andValTelbergwerepursuingthem.However,intheU.S.
photosceneafterWorldWarII,the“purist”approachadvocatedbysuchfigures
asEdwardWeston,AnselAdams,andtheWestCoastschoolwasdominant.They
preachedwhatAdamscalled“pre-visualization”—thefullrealizationoftheimage
at themomentofexposure;by their lights,anysubsequent tamperingwith the
dataonthenegativewasanathema. >
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hisopinionprovedtheviabilityofphotomontageasacontemporaryimage-makingstrategy,alongwithatheoryandateachingmethodology
togowithit.
Uelsmann—goadedintohisinquirybyhismentoratIndiana
University,thelatephotographer,educator,andtheoristHenryHolmesSmith—set
outtodemonstratethattherewasanotherway.Inthelate1950sandearly1960s
(during and after his graduate studies underSmith) Uelsmann devoted a great
dealofstudy,experiment,andenergytorevivingtheprocesseshefoundrelevant
to his vision. Compiling and using an image bank of negatives from which he
coulddrawspecificcomponents,heevolvedanindiosyncraticmethodology.Inthis
approachtopraxis,thedarkroombecamealocusforwhatUelsmannreferstoas
“in-processdiscovery.”
Eventually,hedevelopedhisprintmakingskillstothepoint
wherehecouldblendanynumberofthosecomponentsseamlesslyintoonefinal
image.(Eschewingtheexpedientofthecopynegative,whichmanyphotomonteurs
employasalabor-savingdevice,hecontinuestomakeeachgelatin-silverprintof
anygivenimagebyreassemblingthecomponentnegativesandstartingfromthe
beginning.)Bythemiddle1960she’dproducedabodyofworkthatinhisopinion
Then he took the step—rare in photography, though not uncommon in the other creative media—of issuing an
articulate,cogentmanifesto-cum-credo,explaininginbroadtermswhathewasdoing,whyhewasdoingit,andwhyhecontinuedtocall
himself a photographer.Publishing in1967apositionpaper that describedhis
contrary methodology as “post-visualization,” this seemingly mild-mannered
Detroitnativethrewdownhisgauntlet.InthewordsofcuratorandhistorianPeter
Bunnell,thischallenge—andthewayinwhichUelsmannhasrisentoitsdemands
asapicture-makerovertheyears—canappropriately“beseentohavealteredthe
language,thesubstance,andthedirectionof[themediumitself].”
Fromthebeginning,Uelsmannhaselaboratedasometimes
obliquelyandsometimesdirectlyautobiographicaldream-world.Thismicrocosm
partakesofthesurreal,initsnon-oranti-literalevocationofdreams,fantasies,
visions,andhallucinations,aswellasintherecurrentsymbolofthehand,akey
elementinclassicsurrealistphotography.Italsoisimbuedwithstrongelementsof
thegrotesque,inthatterm’straditionalart-historicalmeaning.Grotesquemotifs
throughouthis imagery includebizarreapparitionsofdisembodiedhumanparts,
themergingofhumanbeingswithvariousnaturalobjects,andtheblendingand
intertwiningofotheranimal,mineralandvegetableforms.>
community in the 1960s are now appearing in the mass media, in relation to the increasing prominence of electronically generated
compositeimages.
It seems to beUelsmann’s fate to haveestablisheddarkroom-generated photomontageas legitimateand viable
withinclassicphotographicpracticebybringingittoitspinnacleofvirtuosicexpression,onlytowitnesstheobsolescingofthatpracticein
Yet these images resist easy categorization: to label
Uelsmann a surrealist, a pantheist, a mythologist, or a diarist is to disregard
other,equallysignificantaspectsofhiswork.Whatseemsinarguableisthat,in
additiontoprovingthevalidityofhisapproachbyproducing imagerythatat its
best is unsettling, enchanting, magical, and oddly melancholy, Uelsmann has
demonstratedaremarkableconsistencyofvision.Againandagaininhisimagery,
alonelyandoftenshadowymalefigure(astand-inrepresentingthephotographer)
searchesconvoluted,mysterious,multi-dimensionalscapespervasivelyanimated
bytheFeminine,seekingcontactwiththeOther.Fundamentally,he’sawanderer
throughinnerspace,alyricpoetusinganewlanguagetorecounthisadventures.
And part of the pleasure of engaging with Uelsmann’s photographs is that the
danceofsymbolsthereinneverseemstheory-driven,intellectualized,orotherwise
forced,butemerges,unpremeditated,throughplayandexperiment.
Due to theomnipresenceofdigital imagingsystems today,
darkroom-based photomontage as a craft can already be considered archaic.
(Indeed, the Rochester Institute of Technology, where Uelsmann studied the
mediumasanundergraduate,willbegintoteachgelatin-silverprintingitselfasan
“alternativeprocess”inthefallof2008).Ironically,versionsofthedisputesthat
tookplaceoverUelsmann’searlyimagerywithinthemicrocosmofthephotography
itsentiretybytheonslaughtofelectronicimaging.Inthatsense,heconstitutesa
terminus.Butwecanalsoviewhimasaspringboard:inbuildingawideinternational
audience for his own imagery and encouraging his colleagues in their parallel
experiments,hehelpedpreparethatreceptivesoilinwhichcomputer-generated
imageryhasnowtakenroot.
Yet,aslongashe’spermittedtopursuehisowninclinations,
hedoesn’tappeartoregretthatculturaltransition.Thiswasneveramanspoiling
forafightoverwhatwasorwasnotpermissibleincreativephotography,merely
someonewhosevisioncarriedhimintoone.Still, it’ssafetosaythatnofuture
studyofthehistoryofphotomontagewillbeconsideredseriouslyunlessittakes
thetheory,thepractice,theteaching,and—mostimportantlyofall—theimagery
ofJerryUelsmannintoaccount.
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© Copyright 2008 by A. D. Coleman. All rights reserved. By permission of the author and Image/World
Syndication Services, [email protected].
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“My visual quest is driven by a desire to create a universe capable of supporting feelings and ideas.” > JERRY UELSMANN
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“The camera is essentially a license to explore.” > JERRY UELSMANN
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