Siskind, Minor White, and Van Deren Coke among
others. In addition to photography, Welpott studied
painting with Leon Golub and Harry Engle and
design with sculptor George Rickey, bridging the
diverse media. After completing the M.F.A. degree,
Welpott was hired by John Gutmann to found a
formal photography program at San Francisco
State College, now San Francisco State University.
There were almost no photography courses offered
at the university level anywhere in America at the
time and graduate programs in photography were
almost nonexistent. Although the Beat Generation
was winding down in San Francisco’s Northbeach,
when he arrived in the City he took advantage of the
local poetry, jazz, art, and culture. Equally enticing
was the availability of photographers such as Ansel
Adams, Ruth Bernhard, Imogen Cunningham, Oli-
ver Gagliani, and Dorothea Lange. After growing
up in Indiana, San Francisco in the late 1950s was a
cultural mecca, and he integrated this cornucopia of
culture into his classes. Preferring the large format
camera and the gelatin silver print, he has also
photographed in color and even combined photo-
graphy with painting and drawing.
Formal problems are a major concern in Wel-
pott’s thinking about photography, but the viewer
can easily be misled by the subject matter. This is
especially true when viewing his forte, his nudes.
They are admittedly erotic and sensual interpreta-
tions of the female figure. His subjects, Judy, Sher-
ry, Thea, and Sabine, are now all well known and
appeal to the viewer because of their sexuality.
However, to stop there would be a gross misreading
of these photographs. They are equally appealing to
the eye because of the skillful integration of subject
matter and technique. Composition (the position-
ing of the figure within the photograph) and his
sensitivity to light are essential ingredients of his
photographs. During the early 1970s, Welpott and
Judy Dater, his former wife, collaborated on por-
traits, frequently photographing women. They
sometimes photographed the same subject to bring
out the differences between the subject and their
interaction with the male or female photographer.
The subjects were strangers whom they found in
various locations in the San Francisco area; for
example,Sherry(1980) andKathleen(1972).
In addition to his nudes and portraits, Welpott
has also focused his lens on the landscape. InNear
Sacramento(1975) he reminds us with a fragment
of the newly ploughed earth, a grassy hill, and a
hint of sky that the camera’s relation to the land
seems innate. Also, in his photograph, White
Sands, New Mexico(1977) the full moon hovers
behind the clouds above a fragment of the sandy
landscape. The allusion to Pictorialism is obvious,
yet the overall effect is quite contemporary.
Welpott also photographed the cityscape. In
1980 and 1981, Welpott began exploring San Fran-
cisco’s financial district, resulting in some unique
and, at times, critical views of the world of busi-
ness. Although Welpott has established his career
as a black and white photographer, during the
1980s he photographed in color, but always with
restraint. InShiny Stocking(1987) the woman’s leg,
her red shoe, and the other figure’s green dress are
all controlled. Similarly, the dress, reflections and
color are all skillfully integrated inSan Francisco,
Ca.(1986). And in such images asDancer(c. 1994)
he combines a photogram of a projected seed pod
with pen and ink drawing and hand coloring.
DarwinMarableSeealso:Callahan, Harry; Coke, Van Deren; White,
MinorBiography
Born in Kansas City, Kansas on April 27, 1923. Graduated
from Indiana University at Bloomington with an M.F.A.
in photography and studied with Henry Holmes Smith;
Entered the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943, and served in
the South Pacific with the 13th Air Force, 1943–1946,
staff sergeant with three combat stars; founder of gradu-
ate photography program and professor of photography,
San Francsico State College, now University, 1959–1993;
Instructor, University of California, Berkeley Extension,
1966–1969; Member, Board of Trustees, Friends of
Photography, Carmel, California, 1973–1976 and mem-
ber Society for Photographic Education; recipient, Medal
of Arles, France, 1973 and National Endowment for the
Arts Grant, 1979. Welpott married Doris Jean Franklin in
1949, divorced in 1968. Married Judy Dater, his former
student, in 1971 and they divorced in 1977. Married
Wendy Brooke Gray in 1988. She died in 1998 after a
long illness.Selected Individual Exhibitions
1962 University of California; Davis, California
1963 University of Florida; Gainesville, Florida
1966 George Eastman House; Rochester, New York
1970 Friends of Photography; Carmel, California
1972 Art Institute of Chicago; Chicago, Illinois
1976 25 Year Retrospective; San Francisco Museum of Art,
San Francisco, California
1979 Center for Creative Photography; Tucson, Arizona
1981 The Photographers’ Gallery; London, England
1988 Jack Welpott; Gallery Min, Tokyo, Japan
1996 Center for Photographic Arts; Carmel, California
1999 Vintage Photographs, 1952–1972; Barry Singer Gal-
lery, Petaluma, CaliforniaWELPOT, JACK