Photographer Luther Gerlach works in a variety of historical photographic processes, highlighting the role of constraints in creative production, and the hand-made, tactile connection between the artist and his work. He has pioneered the re-emergence of plein air wet plate collodion landscapes. His work distills detailed images of the natural world, particularly the trees, seaweeds, and grasses of Southern California, to reveal pure light and line, endowing his images with a subtly abstract quality.
Luther Gerlach was born in Blayne, Minnesota in 1960. He apprenticed with Brett Weston in Carmel and Hawaii in the 1980’s, before learning the wet plate process which he still works in today. He has exhibited at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Schaknow Museum of Fine Art, and the Denver Art Museumamong others. Selected permanent collections include the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and The J. Paul Getty Museum.
