Jerry Uelsmann is best known for his masterful and surreal photomontages. Born in Detroit, Uelsmann received his BFA at Rochester Institute of Technology and his MS and MFA at Indiana University. He began teaching at the University of Florida in Gainesville in 1960 and became a graduate research professor there in 1974. Uelsmann found success early, having his first solo show at the Museum of Modern Art in 1967. His composite photographs, produced using multiple negatives and enlargers, flew in the face of straight photography (which insisted on sharply focused unmanipulated prints) and broadened the scope of art photography in late 20th century. Uelsmann has received a Guggenheim Fellowship and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. He has been the subject of more than 100 solo exhibitions, and his work is in most major museums that collect photography.
