Jerry Uelsmann has made one-of-a-kind photomontages for many years. At the time I encountered him he was combining images in real-time with multiple enlargers. Pre-Photoshop. In fact, he demonstrated this technique to a group of us assembled in Ansel Adams’ Yosemite darkroom. Here are a few of my photographs of Jerry in 1973.
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- With Jack Welpott While Being Captured by Judy Dater
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- Jerry in the Yosemite Wilderness
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- Jerry, Prepared with Tripod
And here is my “Ode to Jerry Uelsmann”, whereby I tried my hand in 1974 at double-printing, in a one-off, never to be repeated attempt, merging my 1969 image of “The American Dream, Davenport, Iowa” with a 1974 image of “Lynne on the Malibu Rocks” …
For a little more on Jerry’s techniques, see this 2012 video by filmmaker Bill Suchy: