Photographer turned wet-plate artist Ian Ruhter basically dropped everything and cashed in his life's savings to follow his passion, morphing his van into a massive camera and making enormous wet plate prints as he travels the country. From hand-making the silver emulsion to the financial risks of shooting at a whopping $500 a plate, this video "Silver & Light" gives an in-depth surprisingly honest look at Ruhter's process, his trials and tribulations, and what drives him to pursue this unusual form of image-making. Ruhter's images are stunning, one of a kind pieces that seem to come from another era, and in his own words, “I didn’t just build a camera, I created a time machine.”
Check out the behind the scenes look at his process in "Silver & Light", and if you still want more, then check out Ruhter's photo blog here. Tell us what you think!
20 Comments
awesome photography.
that was very cool.....
This is very inspiring. Balls deep. I imagine these sell for couple of thousands per print.
I hope so! After seeing everything he puts into them...
this is what i love about photography good for this guy
Amazing artistry. I am humbled indeed. :) Love this stuff!
unbelievable!!
in memory of a daguerreotype. unique soul of a photography. love it.
Fantastic. Inspired!
He definitively doesnt suck.... Very Cool
How toxic were those chemicals he was just dumping into the environment?
I think he was just washing the print with a bunch of water....
I'd always thought it would be super interesting to do wet-plate. Now I don't think I could afford to.
Great but all does chemicals they are dropping on the ground makes their project look bad.
Why do you think they are wearing gloves and gas masks?
Those images are worth buying. Absolutely amazing
So he goes to our national parks, take his photos while dumping gallons of toxic photo chemicals on the ground? He is wearing a freaking hazmat suit. Oh wait, he has a tarp on the ground...my guess he probably just shakes it off and moves on. THE most irresponsible nature photography i've seen.
Officially bad ass awesome!!!
Makes me wanna sell my 7D and do a few photos of my own!
Simply Amazing this is why i love photography Keep up the good work id love to see the photo in real life
do what you love but love what you do