Eric Nelson is one of the photographers who will be at the Amherst Opera House Photography Show/Sale on Saturday, September 9th during Celebrate Amherst. Eric creates unique inages using photographic processes dating to before the Civil War. Bring your family and have a truly unique portrait “struck” by Eric on the north lawn of the Amherst Opera House.
Eric Nelson’s interest in handmade historic photography began when he was a boy growing up in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Nelson remembers how he and his father, a high-school shop teacher, would prepare and ‘rock’ trays of chemistry in the school’s photo lab. Later, while attending UW-Madison, Nelson discovered resources on early photographic processes in the stacks of the technical library, which inspired him to begin experimenting on his own. This led to a life-long exploration of photographic processes including pin-hole photography, Ambrotypes, cyanotypes, Van-Dyke brown prints, and wet-plate collodion. Nelson collects antique cameras and lenses, and he has built a darkroom nearly everywhere he has lived. When not using a “dark tent” on the road, he works at his home studio, in a forested area near Marshfield, Wisconsin.
Eric Nelson received his MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and he has shown his work locally and nationally. His photographs have been exhibited at Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, Brooklyn, NY; Charles Allis Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI; Mills Pond House Gallery, St. James, NY; Gallery 101 University of Wisconsin-River Falls, River Falls, WI; The Alexander House, Wisconsin Rapids, WI; Joy Wai Gallery, New York, NY; and others.
Nelson has had solo exhibitions at New Visions Gallery, Marshfield, WI; Lucille Tack Center of the Arts, Spencer, WI; and Gallery 450, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at Marshfield, Marshfield, WI. He has worked as a lecturer at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point at Marshfield, WI, and taught photography at every level from Kindergarten to College.