جيري أولسمان : إنشاء صور سريالية في غرفة مظلمة .. تطوير نهجك الخاص .. المرشد خطوة بخطوة للتصوير الفوتوغرافي
JERRY UELSMANN : Creating surreal images in the darkroom
Encountering Jerry Uelsmann's photography is like entering a dream world . His strange images of floating trees and hands cradled in stones conjure up the world of the sub- conscious . By skilful use of darkroom tech- niques . Uelsmann creates a disquieting fantasy world , where the normal rules of perspective and scale are disregarded , and the natural laws of time and space suspen- ded . His technical mastery only serves to heighten the strangeness of his images . The quality and fine detail of each print give them a disturbing realism .
Unlike the other photographers in this section , Uelsmann uses the darkroom and the facilities it provides not just to modify but to create his final images . Uelsmann's range of equipment is highly unusual - he uses only one camera ( a 2+ ins square single lens reflex ) but up to six enlargers . He finds it easiest to make composite prints by setting up his chosen negatives in different en- largers and moving the printing paper from one enlarger to another between exposures . Uelsmann believes in what he calls " in process discovery " . Whereas most photo- graphers print images that they have pre- visualized at the shooting stage , Uelsmann
is concerned with " discovering " a satisfying composite image in the darkroom . In this way , he believes in allowing the limitations and characteristics of the photographic materials themselves to contribute toward the formation of the final print .
Uelsmann takes hundreds of photo- graphs of subjects such as trees , hands , rock forms , weathered wood , nudes , and land- scapes . Each negative is meticulously con- tact printed and filed so that , at a later date , he can easily find an appropriate image for the picture he is building .
At the shooting stage , most of Uelsmann's images are committed only in terms of their possible foreground or background use in later constructing a composite image . When framing the subject he leaves space at the top or bottom of the negative . Beyond this nothing is finally decided until he enters the darkroom . Here he sets up his enlargers with negatives or contact printed film posi- tives and begins the process of building up a picture - by masking parts of one image and printing - in another image in its place , or by sandwiching negatives . Sometimes he sand- wiches a negative and positive together . producing a surrealistic combination of negative and positive tone values . Uelsmann avoids overlapping images , keeping them separated by masking parts of the printing paper , so that each image can make its own distinct contribution to the composite . His prints are made on variable contrast paper which , combined with filters , compensates for the problems of printing negatives which are of very different contrast on to a single sheet of printing paper .
Apocalypse 11 , 1967
Uelsmann communicates a strong feeling of revelation and awe in the composite image below . The top half of the picture was constructed by laying two negatives of a tree side by side on the enlarger . The resulting film positive was then printed on to the top part of the paper , giving a symmetrical pattern . of white branches and horizon shapes . Uelsmann printed direct from a negative of the figures , sil- houetted against the sea , to provide the bottom part of the image .
Equivalent , 1964
The picture , left is one of Uelsmann's least ambiguous images . It was printed from two separate negatives , using the black back- ground of both to mask the join . The similar lighting direction of both hand and nude links the two images , stressing the similarity of their shapes . Contrast and variety are provided by the textures in the hand and the body .
Untitled , 1969
The picture below appears to have been constructed from three basic negatives a double - printed land- scape ( with one half laterally reversed ) , a strange peapod shape , and the repeated image of a tree , with another tree grafted on upside- down to appear like tree roots . By repeating the tree image in a smaller scale and printing it in a lighter tone , Uelsmann breaks the symmetry and creates a sense of perspective .
Untitled , 1973
Uelsmann draws a light - hearted parallel between the idealized deco- rative foliage of the painting or tapestry and the bleak bare shapes of the real trees in the picture above . By photographing the painting from an oblique viewpoint , Uelsmann creates a strong foreground lead - in to the picture . Uelsmann over- lapped the two images , shading them carefully where they join , so that they blend gradually into one another in the background .
Untitled . 1972
The powerful shape of the seaweed in the foreground dominates the disquieting seascape , right . Uelsmann made the top part of the picture by sandwiching a negative with a carefully masked film positive of the same image , producing an uneasy combination of negative and positive tone values .
JERRY UELSMANN : Creating surreal images in the darkroom
Encountering Jerry Uelsmann's photography is like entering a dream world . His strange images of floating trees and hands cradled in stones conjure up the world of the sub- conscious . By skilful use of darkroom tech- niques . Uelsmann creates a disquieting fantasy world , where the normal rules of perspective and scale are disregarded , and the natural laws of time and space suspen- ded . His technical mastery only serves to heighten the strangeness of his images . The quality and fine detail of each print give them a disturbing realism .
Unlike the other photographers in this section , Uelsmann uses the darkroom and the facilities it provides not just to modify but to create his final images . Uelsmann's range of equipment is highly unusual - he uses only one camera ( a 2+ ins square single lens reflex ) but up to six enlargers . He finds it easiest to make composite prints by setting up his chosen negatives in different en- largers and moving the printing paper from one enlarger to another between exposures . Uelsmann believes in what he calls " in process discovery " . Whereas most photo- graphers print images that they have pre- visualized at the shooting stage , Uelsmann
is concerned with " discovering " a satisfying composite image in the darkroom . In this way , he believes in allowing the limitations and characteristics of the photographic materials themselves to contribute toward the formation of the final print .
Uelsmann takes hundreds of photo- graphs of subjects such as trees , hands , rock forms , weathered wood , nudes , and land- scapes . Each negative is meticulously con- tact printed and filed so that , at a later date , he can easily find an appropriate image for the picture he is building .
At the shooting stage , most of Uelsmann's images are committed only in terms of their possible foreground or background use in later constructing a composite image . When framing the subject he leaves space at the top or bottom of the negative . Beyond this nothing is finally decided until he enters the darkroom . Here he sets up his enlargers with negatives or contact printed film posi- tives and begins the process of building up a picture - by masking parts of one image and printing - in another image in its place , or by sandwiching negatives . Sometimes he sand- wiches a negative and positive together . producing a surrealistic combination of negative and positive tone values . Uelsmann avoids overlapping images , keeping them separated by masking parts of the printing paper , so that each image can make its own distinct contribution to the composite . His prints are made on variable contrast paper which , combined with filters , compensates for the problems of printing negatives which are of very different contrast on to a single sheet of printing paper .
Apocalypse 11 , 1967
Uelsmann communicates a strong feeling of revelation and awe in the composite image below . The top half of the picture was constructed by laying two negatives of a tree side by side on the enlarger . The resulting film positive was then printed on to the top part of the paper , giving a symmetrical pattern . of white branches and horizon shapes . Uelsmann printed direct from a negative of the figures , sil- houetted against the sea , to provide the bottom part of the image .
Equivalent , 1964
The picture , left is one of Uelsmann's least ambiguous images . It was printed from two separate negatives , using the black back- ground of both to mask the join . The similar lighting direction of both hand and nude links the two images , stressing the similarity of their shapes . Contrast and variety are provided by the textures in the hand and the body .
Untitled , 1969
The picture below appears to have been constructed from three basic negatives a double - printed land- scape ( with one half laterally reversed ) , a strange peapod shape , and the repeated image of a tree , with another tree grafted on upside- down to appear like tree roots . By repeating the tree image in a smaller scale and printing it in a lighter tone , Uelsmann breaks the symmetry and creates a sense of perspective .
Untitled , 1973
Uelsmann draws a light - hearted parallel between the idealized deco- rative foliage of the painting or tapestry and the bleak bare shapes of the real trees in the picture above . By photographing the painting from an oblique viewpoint , Uelsmann creates a strong foreground lead - in to the picture . Uelsmann over- lapped the two images , shading them carefully where they join , so that they blend gradually into one another in the background .
Untitled . 1972
The powerful shape of the seaweed in the foreground dominates the disquieting seascape , right . Uelsmann made the top part of the picture by sandwiching a negative with a carefully masked film positive of the same image , producing an uneasy combination of negative and positive tone values .
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