Composite Images

Long before digital cameras or Adobe Photoshop was ever developed, multi-layered imagery was being created by Jerry Uelsmann (born 1934), who is best known for his seamlessly composited images in black and white. His photographs combine several negatives in the darkroom using multiple negatives in multiple enlargers to create surreal landscapes that interweave images of human figures, rocks, trees, and water, in new and unexpected compositions.

(above) untitled (known as 'Floating Tree') by Jerry Uelsmann, 1969

(above) untitled (known as 'The Philosopher's Desk') by Jerry Uelsmann, 1976

(above) untitled, by Jerry Uelsmann, 1997

(above) 'Eclipse' by Jerry Uelsmann, 2011

 

Combining multiple images using layers in Adobe Photoshop makes compositing multi-layers considerably easier than Uelsmann's complex multi-enlarger technique. Here are some examples:

 

 

 (above) three images by Brooke Shaden

See how Brooke Shaden creates her images:  https://www.youtube.com/user/brookeshaden

(above) 'A Place by the Sea' Gary Dixon

(above) 'Dancing on Dreams' by Amelie Berton

(above) 'Heading On Up' by Jamie Sheehy

(above) 'Music at the Edge' by Elena Paraskova

(above) 'Turtle Life" Helen Mim

(above) 'Untitled' by Yasir Quazi