Modern Combination Printing

One of the most famous photographers using the combination print technique today is Jerry Uelsmann. For the past thirty years, Uelsmann has been making combination prints without the aid of any kind of digital processes. Uelsmann's website presents a beautiful portfolio of his work. In an interview with Uelsmann, conducted by Robert Hirsch of Photovision Magazine, the artist states, "Although photographers must contend with implied veracity they are always inventing other realities. A “straight" photograph does not literally replicate a scene. An Ansel Adams picture of Yosemite is not what you experience when you go there. There is always a transition that breaks from reality." In essence, Uelsmann is refuting the idea of photographic truth, saying that the subjectivity of the photographer and the distance of the viewer makes the representation of true reality impossible. In fact, early in the interview, Uelsmann makes an analogy connecting the photographer in the darkroom to the painter in the studio, a statement also refuting the idea of photographic truth. The photographs above are all done by Uelsmann using the a combination of prints. The top photograph is actually Uelsmann himself, sandwiched between two worlds, the earth and the sky.