A native of Bloomington, Indiana, James Terman earned degrees in chemistry, physiology, and medicine from Indiana University, and received post graduate training in Texas and at Vanderbilt University. Certified in Internal Medicine, his practice with a multispecialty teaching institution in Wisconsin as an internist with an interest in infectious disease continued for 36 years until 2007 when he entered semi-retirement. As an army dependent schoolboy in Occupied Japan, he watched his parents purchase a Canon IIb and begin darkroom work. In youth he had contact with noted photographic educator Henry Holmes Smith, and built his own tiny basement darkroom. Career and family pushed photography into the background for many years. In the 1980s the staff of the Communications Department of University of Wisconsin-La Crosse began bringing in noted photo leaders who carried on the tradition of the "West Coast" school of photography led by Ansel Adams. Over a period of years, the stimulation and influence of a series of intense workshops from John Sexton, Bruce Barnbaum, Ray McSavany, and the late Cole Weston has had a lasting effect. While not dismissive of the digital revolution, Jim prefers to work with medium and large format film equipment, and intends to continue seeking pictures with traditional methods. He still owns the family PX 1949 Canon IIb. but presently uses a Toyo Field View, a Mamiya 7 II, a pair of YashicaMat TLRs, and a Fuji GS 645. He does his own printing, matting, and framing.
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