Robert buelteman biography

California photographer Robert Buelteman’s images are “Energetic Photograms” — made with neither camera nor lens by placing living plants on his easel made of a sheet of metal encased in Plexiglas and applying high-voltage electricity and fiber optic light to render the image. Photograms employ the essential nature of photography: the ability of light-sensitive media to capture an image when exposed, regardless of the source of the exposure, whether it be light energy passed through the aperture of a camera, or, in Buelteman’s work, via his hand-delivered high-voltage electricity and fiber optic technique.

The creative process begins with my selection of a subject, after which I bring the living subject into the studio, where I sculpt it with surgical tools to manage its form and opacity. I then move into the darkroom to manipulate the subject on my imaging easel into the shape of the vision within.

The easel I work on is surrounded by a safety fence of wooden 2x4s to avoid electrocution, is composed of a piece of aluminum sheet metal floated in a solution of liquid silicone, and is sandwiched between two sealed pieces of 1/8” thick Plexiglas.

Once satisfied with basic aesthetic issues, I go into total darkness to build the exposure matrix on top of my easel. First, the 8x10 inch color transparency film is laid flat on the easel with the light-sensitive surface face up. Then the sculpted subject is placed on the film, sometimes with and sometimes without layers of diffusion material, which are laid on top when used. The subject is then wired to a grounding source with cable and clamp.

The actual process of imaging begins with the introduction of high frequency, high voltage ele