Uelsmann Yosemite

the long version

When Jerry Uelsmann composes Yosemite National Park, rocks float. So do clocks and flamingos. Nudes glide through white-water rapids. Acclaimed as an international master of photomontage, Uelsmann creates images of the park so wild and personal that they expand the concept of nature photography. For collectors of Uelsmann's work, this is the first time his photography has been presented in a book unified by a single theme, the landscape of Yosemite. Whether it's a place that thousands of tourists visit every year, or an aesthetic in the mind, Uelsmann allows his audience to decide. Indeed, the bold eyes that peer off these pages - from trap door and tree trunks and stuffed owls - compel the viewer to participate in his artistic consciousness. In his efforts to fathom the secrets of the park, Uelsmann says he wrestles with the Yosemite gods, fighting the whole notion of the romantic landscape tradition, every time he works with his Yosemite negatives. "The strong presence of the place turns the struggle for personal vision into an event that is introspective and challenging," he writes. "Over the years, a few specific trees and rocks have become friends and I visit them whenever l go. They are an important part of this book."