Born in Springfield, Illinois, Jer Nelsen is a photographer, artist, idea-person, and maker with an insatiable appetite for learning. He holds a BS in Photography from Indiana Wesleyan University and an MFA in Visual Art (Photography) from Lesley College of Art and Design (formerly the Art Institute of Boston) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Along with his background in analog darkroom and digital photo processes, he has extensive experience in alternative and historical photographic methods, with an expertise in palladium/platinum printing. In addition to his work as a professional photo workflow consultant, he has worked professionally as a freelance and commercial photographer since 2006, with clients ranging from local bakeries to multinational companies, like Johnson & Johnson.
His fine art exhibitions have included solo shows, such as
Chasing Light, at the Mount Memorial Gallery, and group and duo shows, such as Rhyme & Reason and un/ceremonial at Old Master. His work is often concerned with ideas of time and space and contends with questions of sublimity, limitlessness, and the unknown.
His recent research has been based in ideas of faith and infinity, with a special interest in the way that art can help theorize about string theory, quantum mechanics, and field theory. Some of the artwork from this research was recently featured at the Boston Young Contemporaries exhibition at Boston University, a selection of work juried from every art school in the extended Boston area, including Harvard, Yale, Boston University, Boston College, and Rhode Island School of Design.
As university educator, he enjoys living his true-to-life dream job of working with students, where his aim is to teach his students to see—the world, their potential, and the beauty in others and in the world.
He currently teaches at the South Carolina School of the Arts at Anderson University and resides in Anderson, SC, with his family.
For purchase inquiries, please contact info@jernelsen.com.