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CORVALLIS - Two gallery talks will explore an exhibit of photo montages on display at Fairbanks Hall's gallery on campus at Oregon State University.

Jim Folts, a professor of art at OSU, will present a gallery talk on "Silver Meditations," a series of photographs by Jerry N. Uelsmann. The talk will begin at noon on Tuesday, Jan. 13.

Douglas Russell, gallery director, will discuss the exhibit at 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 14. His talk is part of a series, "Pondering the Muse," which will continue in February.

Both talks are free and open to the public. They will take place in Fairbanks Gallery, in the lobby of Fairbanks Hall, on 26th Street just north of Jefferson Way. Temporary parking is available in the OSU Bookstore lot.

Uelsmann is regarded as the modern master of the photo montage, and a leader in the field of synthetic photography. His photographic images are created through visual reconstruction in the darkroom, where he may use numerous negatives and as many as eight enlargers to create a single final image.

"It is my conviction that the darkroom is capable of being, in the truest sense, a visual research lab; a place for discovery, observation, and meditation," said Uelsmann.

The combining of images gives Uelsmann's work a surreal quality.

"I would like the synthesized and reconstructed images I create to challenge the inherent believability of the photograph," he said. "I subscribe enthusiastically to the belief that an artist can invent a reality that is more meaningful than the one that is literally given to the eye."

Uelsmann has exhibited his work in many major museums worldwide, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Museum of American Art in Washington, the Biblioteque National in Paris, the Chicago Art Institute, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

He has taught at the University of Florida since 1960, received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1967, and was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in 1972.

The exhibit opens Jan. 12 and continues through Feb. 11. Fairbanks Gallery is open to the public weekdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For further information contact Russell at 541-737-5009.