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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Jerry Uelsmann: The Alchemist

Jerry Uelsmann’s surreal imagery has inspired a generation of digital artists, despite the fact that he’s done almost all of it in a wet darkroom

This Article Features Photo Zoom

"Dream Theater, 2004."

Uelsmann pushes the boundaries of his full body of work to create new and constantly evolving images. He's uncompromising in his approach. While he can tolerate uncertainty in the process of creating final images, he can't surrender the art itself. This aesthetic approach leads Uelsmann to broad experimentation with various potential elements. He doesn't settle on a final composition until it satisfies his first audience: himself. Since the mid-20th century until today, Uelsmann has created iconic images within this continuously evolving style. While we can see relationships to his earlier work, there are still new departures in his subjects, techniques and the emotional content.

Uelsmann is unapologetic about his approach. He challenges viewers psychologically and emotionally. He also challenges the critics because his images aren't easy to write about. The images don't rely on art theory; they reside in the surrealism that they create, and then each invites the viewers to interpret and enjoy their own interpretations. This flies in the face of postmodernism, which has dominated much of the photographic milieu for many years. Since Uelsmann's images vary in meaning and emotion from viewer to viewer, they can't be confined to a simplified genre nor can they be fully intellectualized through commentary.
Uelsmann steadfastly remains committed to silver-halide imagery despite the fact that the uninitiated may assume that it's all digital. Resist the urge to label his process as anachronistic. Like so many great artists, Uelsmann is a master craftsman who has a profound connection to his medium. As noted at the outset of this article, you can't define the artist by his technique, and perhaps the greatest compliment to Uelsmann's vision and his importance to concepts using digital technology is that as an alchemist working with silver-based images, his work has been included in the exhibition Digital Darkroom at the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles (December 17, 2011-May 30, 2012).

You can see more of Jerry Uelsmann's work at www.uelsmann.net.