Jerry Ueslmann

I like Uelsmann's work as they are quite surreal and rely on heavy editing, with no digital aid, post shoot that is not immediately obvious and could go completely unnoticed as well as the great consideration he must take when looking at the formal elements within his work.  His work features several of the formal elements but never colour, but they usually feature strong tonal contrast.  I think the fact that he uses absolutely no digital aid to produce his work is simply astounding as most people would probably struggle to produce some of his pieces digitally.

This first picture I have chosen would seem to have some kind of religious background/connotations as it would appear to be showing the split between 'good' and 'evil'.  The process of his editing is pretty much undetectable almost like it is an actual photograph that he has taken.  The idea that is seemingly behind this photo as well as its black and white nature create both a strong tonal contrast and a strong conceptual contrast, that between good and evil.

This second photo is quite fascinating, the combination of the surreal looking landscape and the semi-erotic portraiture with the seamless transition makes it seem almost realistic.  It offers strong tonal contrast between the rocks, the water and the woman, as well as displaying strong depth and form.

This third picture I have chosen would again seem to have some kind of religious relevance as the subject would appear to be an angel.  There is quite strong tonal contrast between the sky and the water and the water and the light reflections down the lower centre of the photo.

This last photo that I have chosen shows some floating trees, I like it because when you first look at it there does not appear to be anything 'wrong', so to speak, with it until you notice the floating tree in the background and the roots of the tree in the centre of the image.  with this image Uelsmann has taken careful consideration in the reflection in the water which almost looks like a hole in the lake.  This photo displays strong tonal contrast between the water, the land and trees and the sky through its lack of colour.

Ueslmann inspires me to pay attention more to the editing process as well as the act of taking the photo it's self.  Ueslmann pays attention to every little detail both when taking his photos and when editing them and therefore manages to produce some really amazing and surreal photos.  Looking back through my own work I have found some similarities between work I have done and Ueslmann's work:

These photos of mine like many of Ueslmann's photos the subject is fairly simple yet the composition is well thought about, as well as the obvious thing of these being in black and white like all of Ueslmann's work, although they lack the heavy editing typical of Ueslmann's work.

In summary Ueslmann creates amazing surreal pieces of work that rely heavily on the post shoot process without the use of any digital aids, editing and splicing, physically manipulating all of his photos by hand in his own wet darkroom.  Ueslmann doesn't even use a digital camera for his work he uses a traditional analogue camera that uses film instead.