Sandra Ullmann | Representation/Abstraction: Bangladesh in Light and Shadow

The black & white photos in Sandra Ullmann’s series were made in Bangladesh while traveling with a small group of photographers. Ullmann's images speak to her fascination with strong light and shadows and forms emerging and disappearing. Staring into the darkness of streets and market stalls, she would wait for a face to emerge and be held by the light.

Having grown up playing with found materials and creating clothing and objects, Ullmann has wanted to become an artist since childhood. However, she has always been torn between making art and doing what she and others consider to be “useful.” After graduating from college with majors in both Art and French, she taught French and literature at Lake Forest College and Lake Forest and Barrington high schools. Returning to her interest in art, Ullmann studied fiber sculpture (School of the Art Institute of Chicago) and created sculptural pieces both on-loom and off, wall hung and free-standing. Many of those works were exhibited nationally in juried shows and in the contemporary fiber sculpture show she curated at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin. In photographing her fiber work for submission to shows, Ullmann discovered the camera, which led her to photography classes at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with Barbara Crane and Joyce Neimanas.

Ultimately, upon earning a doctorate in clinical psychology and a certificate in psychoanalysis she devoted herself for the next twenty-five years to a private practice. However, when time permitted, Ullmann would pursue her photography, taking classes and using the darkroom she built in her home.

Once Ullmann understood the complementary value of her two loves, photography and clinical psychology, she began showing and speaking about art and psychoanalysis at professional conferences. In 2018 Ullmann closed her practice, joined Perspective Group and Photography Gallery and has devoted herself to photography ever since.

Zoom conversation with Ullmann and Tanner on Thursday, February 18 at 7:00 p.m. Go to our website to register.

Perspective Gallery Website