Jerry Norman Uelsmann was an American Photographer. As an emerging photographer in the 1960s, he received international recognition for his surreal, enigmatic photographs- made with his unique method of composite printing.
I find his work fascinating as it all looks like something I would see in a nightmare, which I have decided will be my chosen concept for this project.
Here, the photographer has created a high contrast, black & white image of a tree trunk blending into human hands that are holding a small birds nest with an egg inside. Looking at the photo, I noticed this almost makes the hands act as the branches and leaves of the tree. I think the symbolism of this could be to show how people and nature can be interlinked.
This is a composite image as multiple photos have been combined together into one. Uelsmann uses multiple negatives and enlargers to create single unified images. I am drawn to this photo because of how bizarre and unrealistic it looks, as if it is straight out of a dream.
I am going to recreate these photos in the style of Jerry Uelsmann but to tie in his work closer to my chosen theme, I plan to make whatever the hands are holding look more nightmarish. I am thinking of doing this by making the hands hold a skull (or something of the like) instead of a birds nest.
