Assignment 1:Favorite Photographer

       Jerry Uelsmann "The photographer                                     of 20th Century"

The photographer of his time, Jerry N. Uelsmann, was born on June 11, 1934 in Detroit, Michigan. He was the forerunner of photo montage in the 20th century in America. At the age of 14, his interest sparked in photography and then became his passion. 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. Afterwards, he began teaching photography at the, University of Florida in Gainesville, in 1960. Jerry Uelsmann, is best known for his beautiful composite images in black and white. In his one photograph there is a combination of several negatives to create a very surreal landscape that intervene various elements like trees, rocks, water and human figures, in just one photograph. It is very hard for us to imagine how he made this beautiful art of photography, since we have so much technology now that we are able to do a similar thing in a matter of minutes. Each photograph consists of contrast, intervening human parts in nature, shadows, and repetition of same image in one photograph and put it together with his magical talent.

"Voyage 2008" photograph taken by Jerry Uelsman.
It represents very wide range of contrast and a deep meaning.

 This photograph shows a characteristic that is very commonly used by Jerry through out most of his photographs. It is contrast between very dark and light. The places he wants the audience to notice, he makes it white or light gray and other places very dark and your eyes don't go towards it. In this picture, he wants the audience to concentrate on the boat in the sky, which attracts attention versus just a boat on the sea. This is the real focal point of this image revealing the main theme of this photograph. This image has a very deep meaning, which is  hope and perseverance. It seems like the boat is the object in the sky which is giving of all the light and is in the place of the sun. The purpose of showing the dark sea surrounding the ocean and one lost person in it, is to show how hopeless and isolated this person feels. Also, when looking at the image it is quite apparent that the person is really further into the ocean meaning that there seems to be no way back. The boat being the focal point is what drives this person to persevere and keep on striving. The use of excellent amount contrast is what leads the audience to understand the meaning of this photograph.

Another talent he puts in his photography is the art of adding human parts or trying to relate to our everyday lives with nature. In this photograph, he has the hands bigger than the rest of the things. In this image he puts the focal point of the image as the hands. It seems like the water in the hands contains something very precious. The purpose of showing the hand in this case is to show the importance of water and everything in it. Again, another common element is also incorporated in this image which is that the hands are light in colour and most of the other things are dark grey or black. This makes it quite apparent what he wants the audience to look at. This image has a very good amount of contrast. By the amount of contrast apparent it seems like the hands are holding most of the water. Giving the message by connecting human parts and nature it makes messages a lot more clear.

This photograph is showing another characteristic that is very unique to Jerry Uelsmann. He uses shadows in an image to add a real effect in the image and this makes the audience look at the photograph for longer and think why he added the effects. The shadow he added on the water makes it look like the small island is floating with the tree on it. The way he added the shadows and the amount of contrast makes it look like everything is floating including the trees which you can see their roots hanging from their bottom. The placement of where he put these shadows is what makes it seem like that the island is floating. Another thing that is noticeable is that he makes both trees float in the same direction. The thing you take the least notice of is the mountains behind the big tree because they are so light in color. The amount of detail and thought he puts in each photograph is just astounding and just the element of shadows creates the image better.

"Edge of Silence"

 This is a photograph that really shows how well he puts the images together. Another common element he has in his photographs is that he uses one image more than one time. The ripple he added to the water is the same ripple he added to the sky. Alot of his images seem like there is a line of symmetry in the middle of the photograph. The purpose of this in the photograph towards the left is to show that the person standing on the cliff is trapped. This image makes it seem like he is trapped from the inside rather than the outside, considering the faint image of a face in the water. The amount of contrast that is usually quiet apparent in most of his photographs is also apparent in this one. It seem like half of the sky is dark and the other half is the light and the person is standing in the middle of it all. There are images in this photograph that you see after a while of staring at this photograph. This element of repeating the same image more than once in the same photograph is not meant to be in each of his
photographs but is quiet apparent in photographs that he wants to show sadness, inner conflict, or some type of isolation. The message that Jerry was trying to convey from his photograph is clear by looking at the amount of detail and the use of this element.


In conclusion, Jerry Uelsmann is a photographer who has great meaning to each and every photo that he puts together. The elements of contrast, shadows, using human parts with nature, and using the same image more than once in one photograph is quiet apparent in a lot of his photographs. The most amazing thing to consider is that all these photographs were made without the use of any computers and technology that we have today. He put them together in the dark room and he feels that this is a better way of doing it, although today's technology has really advanced. Jerry was the main reason and biggest influence on the creation of Photoshop. When he was asked about how he felt about the idea, he said that it is great but he is not willing to leave his dark room practices and start new in the digital world. His work of art is truly unique to him and the images made by technology now are no match to his eye-opening photographs.

                            My Photograph

This is the photograph I took and put together using the elements that Jerry Uelsmann uses in his photographs. The first element that I used that is very common in all of his photographs is Contrast. The light in my image attracts attention from the audience just like his photographs. There is black and white and the image is sharp. Another element that I used is reflection and repeating the same image and making it look like there is an line of symmetry in the middle. This image uses at least two of the elements that he has in his photographs.  I made it black and white to show the elements he uses more clearly.

Websites I used:

http://www.uelsmann.net/  

http://www.agallery.com/pages/photographers/uelsmann.html 

http://www.digitalphotopro.com/profiles/jerry-uelsmann-the-alchemist.html#.VD1Pzvm-1Pk 

http://biography.yourdictionary.com/jerry-uelsmann