Ernst L. Wehausen
Photography
SUMMARY
I am a photographer with over 38 years of images chronicling my personal view of people and my environment. A camera is a constant companion as I move through the world. Photography and the images I capture are an extremely important part of my life. Nevertheless, I make my living through corporate and technical communications.
PHOTOGRAPHY
The following are some highlights of my photographic career.
This includes events that have shaped me as a photographer and spurred
me to expand
and refine my vision.
1966 - Drafted
into the army and sent to Viet Nam where everyone seemed to have
a new camera.
1967 - I purchased my first camera and started photographing everything
around me. Sorry to say I destroyed almost all the negatives and slides
shot during Viet Nam and the army. I was young, dumb and was looking
for art instead of content.
1968 - I returned to Columbus, Ohio and The Ohio
State University. The week I arrived I started photographing friends,
places
and events. I
carried a camera everywhere and set up a darkroom in the kitchen
of my apartment.
I declared a major in photojournalism. All my photo courses counted
for my major. However, OSU forced me to learn how to write and communicate.
I didn’t want to do it but I’m thankful for it. Since
graduating, my writing skills have put food on the table. Along with
photographing
my friends, I photographed campus events, including sports and protests.
I did a lot of photography everyday, met a lot of people, captured
some great images and by dating, saving, and filing my negatives
started building
a visual diary.
1970 - As a photographer for The Ohio State Lantern,
I was constantly taking and publishing photographs. This included
a number of excellent
full photo
pages. Some of these still grace my walls. I was also able to get
many of my friends’ in the paper. On the downside, I was in the middle
of the spring riots. I saw way too much anger and violence through my viewfinder.
I went on to be the paper’s chief photographer for two quarters
and did more photography. I also married my wife, Maria-Francesca
Fleming, a gifted artist who has inspired and supported my photography
from the
start. One of my photos of OSU Rugby players made the cover of the
OSU Alumni magazine. I was one of ten finalists in the William R.
Hurst Photojournalism
competition.
1971 - I graduated and we moved to Denver, Colorado.
I went to work for Honeywell’s
Photographic division. They distributed Pentax cameras. I got to
use all types of photo gear and explain it to users. I shot a lot
of film
in Colorado
with friends who had moved there from Columbus. I still maintained
a close relationship with Columbus. I would get to Columbus on business
two or three times a year. My work was used in company publications
and
national advertising for Pentax
photography
equipment
and Agfa films.
1977 - A seminar with Judy Dater at the Maine Photographic Workshop.
Ms. Dater had a big influence on how I viewed and photographed people.
I started
spending more time thinking about the final image instead of just snapping
away and hoping for the best.
1978- 1992 - Lots of jobs in corporate communications
requiring a lot of writing and editing. I still managed to do a lot of
photography and
tried
to make it part of every job. One client was Pentax Corp. for whom I
wrote and edited their quarterly newsletter, Pentax Life, for over five
years.
Our daughter was born in 1980 and a son in 1989 to keep things lively.
I also had work published by The Denver Post , The National Inquirer,
and
many
client
publications.
1992 - Moved to Cincinnati and then to Columbus to work as a technical
writer and eventually as manager of a technical publications group. It
was truly coming home. We re-established a lot of old relationships and
cultivated many new ones. Columbus had grown and improved in the 20 years
we were gone. I lost one of my best friends, Bob Wickliff. Pain and change
forces you to re-examine many aspects of your life. Through my long and
extensive collection of images, I could re-visit many of the places,
people and events we had shared. My prints and contact sheets had become
a visual
diary of my life and relationships.
1996 - Jim Kura, my best friend since we were sophomores in high school
in 1960, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. It was a long, stressful
and painful year. As time ran out, I continued to photograph him at every
opportunity. He and our friends had been featured in 100s of photographs
over the years. This included a number of appearances in the Lantern
and in Pentax Life.
1997 - After moving three times in two years and being
in this house for two years, I put my darkroom back together. I re-discovered
the
joy and
satisfaction of a good black and white print. Jim was in
the final stages of cancer and getting too weak to leave his house. I
wanted
to share images of our friends with Jim and share images of Jim with
our friends. Big prints or trying to get a group together and look at
photos
was not going to work.
In cleaning out a box of equipment I found an outdated box of Kodabromide
postcard paper. I tried 10 or 12 prints from a weekend gathering, they
looked good. I mailed one to Jim and others to our friends. The response
was great. Everyone who got one, wanted more, others who saw them wanted
to be added to the list. I found that through a few dozen postcards I
could share a variety of images with a small group and still have a print
to
frame.
1997 - March - Jim died. I took photos at the funeral. More postcards
were printed and mailed.
1997 to 2001 -- Over roughly four years I printed and
mailed over (160+ images x 36+ addresses) 5,700 postcards. The subjects
were whatever appealed
to me that day. Some were old, some were taken the same day they were
shot.
It was a creative challenge to keep coming up with good images. I limited
each edition to 40 prints because that was what I could print in an hour.
2000 - One of my postcards placed fourth in the Unique
Photo contest. They used the image for all their national advertising
in 2000. This included publications like Life, The New York Times
Magazine, National Geopgraphic, PHOTO, Audubon and various national photography
publications. It now graces
a late birthday card from Palm press.
2001 to Present - I discovered the unique results
by transferring slide images to Polaroid film and then to watercolor
paper.
I found the
unpredictability
and the
many factors affecting the results challenging. The more of my slides
I transferred to paper through the Polaroid film the more intrigued
I became
with the changes to my images. With a careful selection of subject
and matching it to the right paper, I could produce a new image that
more
closely matched my original vision and intent. I continue to explore
the possibilities. I find the Polaroid transfers well suited to images
of many other places around Columbus and central
Ohio. My views of the White Castle restaurants are good examples.
You’ll
note that they work well for vintage motorcycles and give portraits
a special quality.
I started scanning my transfer prints into the computer so that
I can create larger prints than those resulting from the Polaroid
negative. The
process of digitizing, resizing, and making adjustments in Photoshop,
and using an inkjet printer have introduced a whole new set of variables
in
the final image. However, with the passing of Polaroid, I no longer do transfers.
My work has been exhibited and sold at the Acme Art Gallery, Barber House, Columbus Community College Library, Ohio State Fair, Northwood Art Space, and a number of art fairs.
Gallery:
Photo Bio
