Jane Lena Schulman is a photographer, educator and a designer and facilitator of photography programs for adults living with serious mental illness.
In her own fine art photographs she explores and represents the internal landscape of human experience telling stories of what is often unseen including the psychological, emotional and interpersonal influence of family histories and family relationships. She is dedicated also to portraiture in the context of community and in collaboration with those she photographs.
Having originated and facilitated From Latent to Visible: A Photography and Writing Program for Adults Living with Severe and Persistent Mental Illness she continues to provide the history, tools and techniques of photography to individuals and communities, collaborating with them so they might then tell stories of their own.
These areas of interest and activity were inspired in part by her many years of working
as a psychotherapist, years during which she returned repeatedly to photography. Her work
has been influenced also by the artists with whom she has studied including Brenton Hamilton, Andrea Modica, Aline Smithson, Debbie Fleming Caffery and Oliver Gagliani.
It was light that first drew her to photography and it is natural light still that enlivens her as she photographs. She is devoted to analog practice, to her vintage Rolleiflex camera and to presenting images as black and white gelatin silver prints for their symbolism, contrast and beautiful tones. When photographing, she often employs multiple exposure, juxtaposition and movement to facilitate the expression of the unconscious and emotion in her work.