Even though every Profoto product was designed with a purpose, we encourage and support creatives who find new ways of using them. Ian Ruhter, who uses powerful Profoto strobes to rejuvenate the old wet plates technique, is one of those photographers. Ian is currently traveling around his home country, photographing the places and the people who live there in this never-before-seen fashion. We will follow him on this journey in a series of articles, written by Ian himself. This is the eighth part.

In the process of preparing the time machine, I had no idea this would become one of the most extraordinary journeys to date. It would propel me into the future where I meet Chase Jarvis, one of the greatest photographers of all time. It would then send me back in time to meet with my old friend, Peter Line, the best snowboarder of this era.

All of a sudden I found myself in the present, making a picture of Ishmael Butler from the Diggable Planets. I had travelled the way you would in a dream, taking me backward into the future. A future where you paint with silver and light. (more…)

Even though every Profoto product was designed with a purpose, we encourage and support creatives who find new ways of using them. Ian Ruhter is one of those photographers. Ian uses powerful Profoto strobes to rejuvenate the old wet plates technique . He is currently traveling around his home country, photographing the places and the people who live there in this never-before-seen fashion. We will follow him on this journey in a series of articles, written by Ian himself. This is the seventh part, in which Ian takes us behind the scenes of his immensely popular short film American Dream.

I can’t believe it’s almost been a year since the release of the Silver and Light film. After it’s release, I didn’t realize it, but my life’s path would forever be changed. The journey this project has taken me on has exceeded my wildest expectations. I couldn’t have planned it better if I tried.

It took two years for me to build this device and make it work. I remember driving to Los Angeles and realizing this would be the starting point for our journey through America.

What I couldn’t predict, was the amount of people who would open up their hearts and help carry this project along on it’s amazing journey. The success of Silver and Light is because of people like you who have supported it.

It was really fun making this video. It reminded me of all the trials and tribulations we went through during the making of the American Dream film. Looking back on it now, it puts into perspective why we are doing this. This is far greater than just a photography project. Once we are removed from our socioeconomic status, race, religion and other labels that become attached to us, we find out we are all in search of the same thing. This project demonstrates the connection we share as we travel on this journey known as life.”

Written by Ian Ruhter

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Click on “(more…)”to see a selection of the images featured in the video. (more…)

Even though every Profoto product was designed with a purpose, we encourage and support creatives who find new ways of using them. Ian Ruhter is one of those photographers. Ian uses powerful Profoto strobes to rejuvenate the old wet plates technique . He is currently traveling around his home country, photographing the places and the people who live there in this never-before-seen fashion. We will follow him on this journey in a series of articles, written by Ian himself. This is the sixth part, titled Death Do Us Part.

I’m standing in the dark 1000 miles from home in a graveyard. The morning light arrived and my eyes began to focus. This was the moment everything became clear. I woke up from a nightmare that had lasted seven years. I realized I was surrounded by everything I loved. That’s where the name Death Do Us Part came from.

Seven years ago a series of events occurred that left me standing alone, frozen in time. I stood there for years consumed by my own thoughts.

Death Do Us Part is the fear of letting go of our past in order to reach for the future. When we take this leap of faith we decide to let go of our fears. We begin free falling with nothing to hold on to. These are the rare instances that we are actually living in the moment.

©Ian Ruhter

©Ian Ruhter

©Ian Ruhter

In this rare instance I had an uncontrollable desire to build this device. I now call my camera the Time Machine. While I was building this camera something magical happened. I finally let go my fears and reached out. Originally it was a mechanical project and slowly it morphed to a soul-searching Journey. I believe this relates to photography in general. When we obtain our first camera we view it as a material object. Somehow it transforms into a key that allows us to explore what’s in our hearts. This device opens doors that we could never have imagined.  This is Death Do Us Part. (more…)

©Will Eichelberger

Even though every Profoto product was designed with a purpose, we encourage and support creatives who find new ways of using them. Ian Ruhter is one of those photographers. Ian uses powerful Profoto strobes to rejuvenate the old wet plates technique . He is currently traveling around his home country, photographing the places and the people who live there in this never-before-seen fashion. We will follow him on this journey in a series of articles, written by Ian himself. This is the fifth part, in which Ian celebrates Christmas and shoots at the Chase Jarvis Live show.

If someone told me I would wake up in a Travelodge this Christmas I would’ve laughed. Christmas Day arrived and I found myself alone staring out the window of a hotel room. I did remember this being part of the dream of when I started this project two years ago. I just stood there watching it rain.

We try to plan and have control over life; days like these remind me that I’m just along for the ride. Ten days before this monumental moment I received a call from Chase Jarvis. He asked if I would like to be on the Chase Jarvis Live show. I am a big fan of Chase and his work, of course I said yes. Immediately after our conversation the reality of this situation set in. I agreed to use the camera truck to create plates live on his Internet show. The thought of creating images in front of 40,000 people live was overwhelming. Soon I learned it would be 38° and raining in Seattle. The wet plate process does not work in cold weather. I started to worry. I had already said yes to Chase so we packed up the camera truck and began our two day drive to Seattle. (more…)

Even though every Profoto product was designed with a purpose, we encourage and support creatives who find new ways of using them. Ian Ruhter is one of those photographers. Ian uses powerful Profoto strobes to rejuvenate the old wet plates technique . He is currently traveling around his home country, photographing the places and the people who live there in this never-before-seen fashion. We will follow him on this journey in a series of articles, written by Ian himself. This is the fourth part, in wich Ian shows how to do wet plates with a Holga camera and Profoto strobes.

Lights, toy camera, action!

I was granted an opportunity. At the time I didn’t know it would lead to a major development in my photography. I was asked to participate in a show at the Lomography store in Los Angeles. The idea behind the project was to take six photographers and have them create photos with the Lomography cameras. Initially I thought it would be fun to make photos using regular film again. All of the sudden I had an idea. Would it be possible to create wet plate images with this camera? Once I had the camera in my hands I figured out very quickly it was going to work.

The very next day I began shooting photos with my new plastic camera. Immediately I was blown away by the results. These cameras have plastic lenses and are known to have light leaks, which gives you the signature Lomo look. The combination of toy camera and wet plate process produced images I had never imagined creating. (more…)